Park of Science and Art “Sirius” Buran | Kliper

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Buran What is Buran? Buran Is a legendary reusable spacecraft designed for manned flights, as well as for deploying satellites to orbits and returning them back to the Earth.

It conducted its maiden and only flight on Nov. 17th, 1988, riding on the Energia carrier rocket, completing two orbits around the Earth, de-orbiting and gliding towards a smooth landing on a runway. There was no crew onboard: instead, the flight was controlled by a computer.

Those who controlled the flight were impressed by its automatic landing system. Buren abruptly strayed from the intended course when received information about the weather conditions in the runway area at an altitude of 20 km. it turned out that the onboard computer calculated the best landing trajectory for the current weather conditions and it was not the one expected. It was the first space shuttle to perform an unmanned flight, including landing in fully automatic mode.

Nowadays cosmonauts are carried to the space station by a single use space craft Soyuz with a capacity up to three crew members. Buran on the contrary could be used several times and carry up to 8-10 cosmonauts and 30 000 kg cargo.

Park of Science and Art “Sirius” Buran | Kliper

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What is presented here?

Full name of the model presented is Orbital Spacecraft – Complex Stand (product 0.03). Before the creation of the operating space ship Buran engineers built many of its technological models. Here you can see the layout used for the largest experimental work: it continuously tested electrical equipment and software for the space shuttle Buran for 1600 days.

This Complex Stand was not meant to go to space. That’s why the thermal protection system aimed to protect the spacecraft from overheating was not installed.

This stand will become a part of the Science and Art Park “Sirius” exhibition on space research and exploration.

Park of Science and Art “Sirius” Buran | Kliper

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Kliper Kliper General Information Kliper was a proposed new generation multipurpose manned spaceplane. It was planned to be used as one of the components of the international space station’s transportation system. The purpose of the spaceplane was:  Delivering crew and payloads to the station and returning them to Earth;  Evacuating and retrieving the crew from the station and bringing it back safely back to Earth in case of an emergency;  Removing expired equipment and waste products from the station;  Returning research and experimental results conducted on the ISS to Earth. The Kliper project was designed to replace the manned Soyuz spacecraft, which is currently used to deliver international crews to the International Space Station and back to Earth. Kliper was designed to be piloted by two crew members: the commander and the flight engineer. And. In case of a two-person crew, missions of up to 30 days were possible. Unlike the Soyuz spacecraft, which was designed for three person crew, Kliper would accommodate a crew of six. While the Souyz capsule was capable of returning payloads of up to 200 kg to Earth, Kliper was capable of returning payloads of up to 700 kg. the wings and the special shape of the spaceplane’s lifting body allowed for more complex maneuvers in orbit, providing more room for the crew and allowing for more accurate and softer landing. Kliper was a reusable spacecraft, witj a capability to make several trips, unlike the Soyuz spacecraft, which can be used for only one roundtrip to the station and back. Development of the spaceplane began in 1999 in the S.P.Korolev Rocket and space Corporation Energia. In 2006, the Kliper project participated in the contest of the Federal Space Agency to Park of Science and Art “Sirius” Buran | Kliper

______create a reusable new generation manned spacecraft, but failed to satisfy the competition requirements. Work on the project continued until 2008 in cooperation with European Space Agency (ESA). The exhibit item This is the only full-size model of the Kliper spaceplane. In the front part of the model the return capsule can be seen, with two small portholes on each side. Inside the return vehicle, there are armchairs for the crew and an instrument panel. The crew is seated inside the return vehicle during the launch into orbit, maneuvering and descent from orbit. In the aft part of the model the instrument and propulsion compartment with a large porthole can be seen. This is where the propulsion system is located, as well as food and water supplies, the toilet and sleeping stations for the crew. As the model doec not feature the docking unit in the rear part of the spaceplane, the interior of Kliper’s instrument and propulsion compartment is visible. In future, the model of the Kliper spaceplane will be part of the exhibition of the Park of Science and Art “Sirius”, dedicated to research and development of outer space.