Russia’s forgotten space agency: Haunting images reveal two abandoned Soviet shuttles
Channel: Aliens insider
Date: 2015-06-21

Russia’s forgotten space agency: Haunting images reveal two abandoned Soviet shuttles rotting in giant derelict hangar
www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3119861/Russia-s-forgotten-space-agency-Haunting-images-reveal-two-abandoned-Soviet-shuttles-rotting-giant-derelict-hangar.html


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In the 1980s, a little-known chapter in the space race took place when the Soviet Union attempted to build their own version of Nasa’s Space Shuttle.

But despite a successful unmanned orbital test flight the Buran vehicles were soon scrapped amid rising budget cuts and left to rot in hangars.

One of the Soviet shuttles was destroyed when its hangar collapsed in 2002, but two other models remain intact and have been pictured in a stunning series of photographs.
The images were taken by photographer Ralph Mirebs in Baikonur, Kazakhstan, last week.

They reveal a large hangar - once a hub of activity but now left derelict - located near to the Baikonur Cosmodrome, which is still used to launch Soyuz rockets today.

At the base of the hangar are two unused Buran shuttles, named Burya and OK-MT.