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
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12. Russia's secret space shuttles Dust isn't the only thing covering these shuttles. Look closely and you'll see a generous smattering of bird droppings across the nose of this shuttle:
13. Russia's secret space shuttles It looks like the birds missed the second shuttle, facing the opposite end of the hangar.
14. Russia's secret space shuttles Like NASA's space shuttles, the Buran shuttles were designed for reuse. The single shuttle that was launched in 1988 remains the only reusable spacecraft Russia has ever launched.
15. Russia's secret space shuttles Like the shuttles, the building is also falling apart. You can see that the steel beams holding the building together are severely rusted.
16. Russia's secret space shuttles and the paint on the walls is slowly but surely peeling away.
17. Russia's secret space shuttles On the ground floor, Mirebs grabbed some incredible shots of the underbelly of the shuttles, which are lined with black tiles that act as a protective heat shield.
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24. Russia's secret space shuttles Here's another look at some of the interior mechanics of the shuttles. It looks like there are some shelves on the left that might have been used by cosmonauts to store food.
25. Russia's secret space shuttles Piled scraps of machinery were simply abandoned in this room.
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26. Russia's secret space shuttles The Soviet government were initially considering some of their top space scientists to head the Buran program, but in the end command fell to Col. General Alexander Maksimov, who ran the military space and missile programmes.
27. Russia's secret space shuttles Russia launched their Buran program in 1974 in response to NASA's space shuttle program. One of the main goals of the programme was to send the first woman in history on a spacewalk.
28. Russia's secret space shuttles They actually succeeded four years before even launching their Buran shuttle. In 1984, Svetlana Yevgenyevna Savitskaya became the first woman to complete a spacewalk and the second woman ever in space.
29. Russia's secret space shuttles One piece of the shuttles that still seems to be in relatively good condition is its propulsion systems in the back.
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30. Russia's secret space shuttles These engines were designed to fly the shuttle once it reached space. They weren't nearly powerful enough to get the vehicles to space.
31. Russia's secret space shuttles On his blog, Mirebs asks "Why spend billions on ... space, if it does not bring profit for the foreseeable future?" Much of Mirebs's photography documents Russia's industrial decline after the dissolution of the USSR in 1991.
Title: The Soviet Space Shuttle "Buran" - Space Documentary Language: Russian Soundtrack Lunar Docu - Published on Jul 27, 2017 YouTube Code: https://youtu.be/APkRBvofLh4 Duration: 37:38
Buran was the first space plane to be produced as part of the Soviet/Russian Buran program.
