Russia's secret space shuttles have been sitting in plain sight for 22 years (Reported MSN 18.06.15)

The Russian Space Shuttle Buran programme

8. Russia's secret space shuttles
Mirebs took this epic shot of both shuttles from a viewing platform at one end of the hangar.

9. Russia's secret space shuttles
According to Mirebs, the building's support beams, shown below, were made from special steel that could withstand the shockwave if there was an explosion during construction.

10. Russia's secret space shuttles Lining the walls of the hangar are ramps that former workers used to reach different levels of the building.

11. Russia's secret space shuttles
Not surprisingly, after sitting for 22 years, the shuttles are not in superb, or even good, condition. Here you can see a broken window on one of the shuttle's cockpit sky windows.

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16. Russia's secret space shuttles
And the paint on the walls is slowly but surely peeling away.

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5. Russia's secret space shuttles
Buran is Russian for "snowstorm" or "blizzard." The Russians built only few prototypes of these shuttles, and only one of them actually flew.

7. Russia's secret space shuttles
Stored in this hangar are two shuttles that never flew. The only shuttle that reached space was destroyed in 2002 when the roof of the hangar it was stored in collapsed.

Designed by Nigel G Wilcox

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USSR Shuttle Buran

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