Students of the Sirius educational center will soon get a chance to step in the shoes of a conqueror of the Universe and go on a virtual voyage in a spacecraft. An exact replica of the legendary Buran orbiter is being shipped off to Sochi. After more than three decades the mockup changes its place of residence to become a part of a large exhibit dedicated to space exploration.
This spacecraft has stayed in Korolev for exactly 35 years, and now it is being loaded onto a platform to be shipped off to Sochi to the educational summer camp Sirius.
This is one of several Buran mockups which were used to test the operation of all the spacecraft systems. Altogether, about 10 of such units were built, and currently this one is among the best preserved specimens. Now it will be rebuilt into an installation which will help children study spaceflight.
People often ask which is the Buran that actually flew into space. This particular unit didn’t fly into space for sure, although inside it is outfitted exactly as the real orbiter, but if you look on the outside, you won’t find the famous ceramic tiles protecting the spacecraft against the heat of atmospheric re-entry.
The Buran orbiter, which on November 15, 1988 flew into space, stayed at Baikonur and was eventually lost. One unit stays there at the local museum, in Moscow, at VDNKh, there is also a mockup that was originally built for tests, and one more Buran found its way into a private collection in Germany.
"We were indeed offered large sums of money for it, but we decided to let it stay in Russia to make it work for the future of our country", - explained general director of S.P. Korolev Rocket and Space Corporation Energia Vladimir Solntsev.
Buran was supposed to be flown by two pilots, just as a conventional aircraft, although Buran flew its first and only mission in fully automatic mode, exactly aligning itself with the runway during landing approach despite strong crosswinds.
The Buran mockup will be loaded onto seven platforms and transported to the south at 60 kilometers per hour by federal highway M4. The Buran won’t be hidden under any wraps, so the transportation of the legend of Soviet spaceflight can be watched by anyone who whishes to so.
