Buran-Energia

Some days ago a friend of mine went to Russia to visit some factories and this is where he went, to the central institute of search and experiments for robotics and cybernetics (ГНЦ ЦНИИ РТК РФ) at St-Petersburg. It’s in this institut that was developped the Buran’s Remote manipulator system. Here are some pictures:

  

Source: kosmonavtika.com

TV Roscosmos published today (under their reportings about the soviets and russians cosmonauts) a reporting about the cosmonaut Igor Volk.

Igor Volk took part, especially, in the development of the Buran’s autonomous landing system in piloting the OK-GLI shuttle.

You can see the reporting here:

Today we are celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Buran’s flight.

The start was given at 6 o’clock AM (Moscow time) under a thick cloud cover. The flight went through without specifics troubles and the shuttle landed smoothly on the runway of the Yubileyniy’s airport, specially designed for this purpose.

This flight is a first in the history of space exploration because it’s the first automatic flight of a space shuttle. Only the de-orbit command was transmitted from the ground.

Unfortunately, the financial and political situation of the USSR at that time was disastrous, the program was expensive and priorities has changed. The Energia-Buran program is slowly paused. There will be no further launches, despite the many opportunities that allowed the shuttle. Even the launcher Energia is abandoned.

Since then, no manned shuttle has reiterated the achievement of being driven solely by the on-board computer.

This program has been the swansong of the Soviet Cosmonautics.

This year heavy rains little bit messed up this new edition of the MAKS air show 2013, especially the flights demonstrations, but at least some historic planes were exposed for the joy of visitors. Among them the VMT-Atlant, this plane made the two flights of the Energia rocket possible. Indeed, it was the only mean to safely transport parts of the rocket (and the shuttle Buran) from Moscow to Baikonur.

  

  

Source: lusika33

Alexander Ananoff was a person who lived his passion, the space exploration, and he dedicated to it a large part of his life.

This untiring self-taught man made it possible for the people to discover, since the 30′s, the advantages of space exploration for mankind. By virtue of his popularizer talent he succeeded to pass down his passion throughout conferences, symposiums, and publications, where many of his contemporary looked at him with contempt.

Thus, amongst other things, he helped Hergé for the redaction of the Tintin’s adventures on the Moon and he created the first International Astronautical Congress in 1950.

Alexandre Ananoff, l’Astronaute méconnu (Alexander Ananoff, the unknown Astronaut) written by Pierre-François Mouriaux and Philippe Varnoteaux is an exciting biography which enlighten us on the not well known life of the first French space exploration popularizer.

ISBN : 979-10-90686-20-5

TV Roscosmos published a reporting about Buran-Energia with an complete interview of Oleg Baklanov, member of the CPSU Central Committee (1988-1991) responsible for issues of state defense. He was a strong supporter of this project and ask for the developing of such powerful launcher to continue the space exploration and increase the transportations conditions of cosmonauts.

Other reporting here.

Here is a reporting presented by Nicolas Hulot and filmed at the end of the 80′s or at the beginning of the 90′s where two Mig 25 are used to simulated the descent phase of the Buran shuttle.

Few months ago I visited the museum of the Peenemunde launch base, at the seaside of the Baltic sea in ex-GDR.

This museum is very interesting even if most of the former installations were destroyed.

Visit begins here.