NASA’s iconic Space Shuttle is arguably one of the best things America has made thanks to its sleek looks, its use in the launch of the International Space Station and its contribution to our understanding of the cosmos through the countless satellites it launched into orbit. Russia’s attempt at building a space plane of its own, however, was far less successful and now one of the few reminders of its existence sits rusting in a hanger in the desert.
Officially called the Buran space plane, the Soviet Union’s idea for a space shuttle looked remarkably similar to NASA’s. It had a slick white body with black heatproof tiles on the underside, a deltawing design and some pretty powerful engines at the rear. The big differences arose in its mission success, though, as the Space Shuttle carried out more than 130 successful launches while the Buran only managed one unmanned flight around the Earth.
The craft that made it into orbit never flew again and was instead placed in storage on the outskirts of the Baikonur Cosmodrome until it was destroyed when the roof collapsed in the early 2000s, explains Wired. The remnants of the only Russian shuttle to leave Earth were then cut down for scrap and now, the program is survived only by an engineering prototype that never flew and a second ship that was scheduled to launch into orbit but never made it off the ground.
Since the mid 1990s, the two craft have been sitting in storage on the outskirts of Baikonur in central Kazakhstan, as the Bright Sun Films YouTube channel recently explained in a video essay on the program. Over the years, urban explorers have tried their luck sneaking into the complex to catch a glimpse of the two space planes, which offer a rare peak at the remnants of the soviet space program.
After making a 25-mile trek out to the working space port, photographers and other explorers told the channel that the complex is a rare snapshot into the space race. In addition to the two space planes, other Soviet-era equipment sits rotting away, with documents and paperwork telling of life inside the complex before it was left to rot.
The condition of the two craft leaves little to be desired, as both have sat unmoved for almost 30 years now. Paint is flaking on both, dirt covers the wings and the fuselage of one was even covered in graffiti at one point during its stay in Kazakhstan. Thankfully, the ship’s owner soon painted over that to keep the Barun looking respectable.
It’s wild to think that while the Space Shuttle is proudly displayed in museums across America for all to see, this piece of the Soviet space program is hidden away from view.
The Buran program wasn’t exactly a failure as the one flight that took off in 1988 was successful and proved the viability of the design, reports CNN. However, shortly after its launch the Berlin Wall fell and the program was paused before, ultimately, getting canned in 1993.
Now, if you want to see the Buran space plane for yourself you’ll have to travel to Baikonur, but that’s not because you’ll have to sneak into this hanger. Instead, there’s a third remaining Buran on display at the museum there, which is a much less perilous trek to make than one inside an active spaceport.
