As a result, the drogue parachutes, which were designed to open up upon the first touchdown impacting the landing gear struts, had actually activated nine seconds later, when the spacecraft was already rolling and loosing speed. The touchdown was far softer than the engineers had anticipated. He placed a glass of water on the car’s hood and went on a test ride along the runway. One day Gleb Lozino-Lozinsky arrived for an inspection to test the quality. When it was still being built, soldiers literally polished it by hand. The Buran’s landing phases 250 km 200 km 150 km 100 km 50 km Low near-Earth orbit Approximate border of the atmosphere Earth 1 2 3 4 5 Orbital flight Point 1: Thrusters turn Buran’s tail forward, braking impulse follows, descent begins Point 2: Engines are turned off, the spacecraft’s nose is set on course, bracing for entry into the atmosphere Point 3: Enters into the atmosphere, then undergoes an intensive slowdown, as re-entry friction heats up the spacecraft’s outer surfaces Point 4: Gliding into the landing trajectory Point 5: Soft landing on the runway After the beginning of the descent, the spaceplane set its course towards Baikonur. Changing the landing site after re-entry would be impossible, because the Buran, just like the Space Shuttle lacked air jet engines. The area where it would leave orbit was vital to the place where it would land, either the main site near Baikonur or one of its two reserves: one in Crimea or the other in the Primorye Region along the Pacific. The Buran began its descent at a speed nearly 30 times the speed of sound. In fact, any spacecraft’s re-entry is tantamount to a free-fall. Why? As soon as he lays hands on the steering rod, Buran’s automatic system is turned off. The idea was the pilot merely sits tight in his seat keeping his hands off the joystick. The Americans’ main mode of operating the Space Shuttle was manual. Gross liftoff mass: Payload: Payload returning to Earth: Length: Wingspan: Height (landing gear down): Crew: 105 t 30 t 20 t 36.4 m 24 m 16.5 m 2–10 In an emergency, the crew would get into the capsule for urgent evacuation. The designers suggested using the same compartment for the re-entry capsule Soyuz during manned space flights.
Its cargo compartment was capable of easily accommodating any module of the Soviet space laboratory, which would be deorbited and dumped in 2001.
Some specialists speculate that the rocket-powered glider might have hypothetically recovered the Mir space station piece by piece. The Buran was a reusable orbiter capable of putting different payloads into space and bringing cargoes back to Earth. On November 15, 1988, it completed its first and only flight. It was never on display in Gorky Park, contrary to a widespread rumor. The Buran was not a Soviet shuttle, though it was frequently referred to as such. Some say the Buran might have been able to recover the Mir space station piece by piece.
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