Energia - Buran Space Transportation System

[Mark Nankivil]

Archipeppe will certainly be pleased...

Wonderful pics all, thanks! Mark

 

[Grey Havoc]

The Space Review: Target Moscow: Soviet suspicions about the military uses of the American Space Shuttle (part 1)

The Space Review: Target Moscow (part 2): The American Space Shuttle and the decision to build the Soviet Buran

 

[Jason Dykstra (Wyvern)]

Thought that this might be of interest:

 

[Grey Havoc]

I had forgotten about this image before coming across it again today in the Transport Amphibious Platforms (TAP) concepts thread over in Naval Projects:

(h/t borovik)

A Soviet Navy TAP-30 'small landing craft', presumably being used to transport a Buran back from one of the more remote back-up landing sites.
(Though for a while, I was wondering if it was actually an illustration of the OK-92 precursor design being transported.)

 

[Grey Havoc]

(h/t athpilot)

 

[Grey Havoc]

Myasishchev VM-T Atlant/Buran: The Primordial Titan.

The astonishing Atlant was an oversize cargo aircraft used in the Energiya/Buran space program. A derivative of one of my favourites, the 3MN-2 (M-4/3M family), the Atlant was designed as a stopgap…

elpoderdelasgalaxias.wordpress.com

Myasishchev VM-T Atlant: The Primordial Titan (II).

Really nice pic of the Atlant, first carrier for both the Buran shuttle and the Energiya booster. Now a museum piece, the Atlant has the “Egg” on his back; Payload 3GT -the “Egg&#…

elpoderdelasgalaxias.wordpress.com

 

[Jason Dykstra (Wyvern)]

How was the Myasishchev M-4 modified to become the Atlant? What modifications did it require?

 

[TomS]

Described in detail here: http://www.buran-energia.com/vmt-atlant/vmt-desc.php

Short version; it was very nearly a new aircraft. New tail, obviously, which required a new aft fuselage to support it. Modified or replaced bulkheads and fuselage skins across much of the aircraft. More powerful engines. Revised flight controls. Etc.

 

[Archibald]

I had forgotten about this image before coming across it again today in the Transport Amphibious Platforms (TAP) concepts thread over in Naval Projects:

(h/t borovik)

A Soviet Navy TAP-30 'small landing craft', presumably being used to transport a Buran back from one of the more remote back-up landing sites.
(Though for a while, I was wondering if it was actually an illustration of the OK-92 precursor design being transported.)

Ekranoplans and space shuttles, what's not to like ? add a zeppelin and a battleship in the background maybe ?

 

[Grey Havoc]

 

[Grey Havoc]

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twwDv7jjjfw

 

[Grey Havoc]

(h/t igor-mich)

 

[Grey Havoc]

A Buran derived OTV: https://www.secretprojects.co.uk/threads/for-all-mankind-apple-tv-series.32593/post-450393

 

[Grey Havoc]

I came across another photo of the Yamal mockup next to the Buran-Analogue 002
taken in 1999, at Zhukovsky, via this blog post on the excellent "Drew Ex Machina" spaceflight and astronomy blog

The Day I Saw Buran

Life is filled with surprises big and small. Between 1994 and its cancellation in 2004, I was involved as a member of the American science team in the joint US/Russian RAMOS (Russian American Obse…

www.drewexmachina.com

 

[Grey Havoc]

Many tests of elements of rocket and space technology are carried out in flying laboratories. This happened most fully during the creation of the Buran orbiter in the 1980s. In particular, the MiG-25 and Tu-154 laboratory aircraft were used to test the ship's automatic landing system.

For the final testing of the final stage of the Buran's flight and its landing, including in automatic mode, a full-size analogue aircraft BTS-002 was built. Its tests were carried out in Zhukovsky near Moscow - at the Gromov Flight Research Institute together with the Experimental Machine-Building Plant named after V.M. Myasishchev. It flew for the first time on November 10th, 1985, piloted by Gromov Flight Research Institute test pilots Igor Volk and Rimantas Stankevicius. They were originally planned as the crew for the first manned flight of the Buran.

ORIGINAL CAPTION; Photo: Aktug Ates / wikimedia.org

https://www.ruaviation.com/docs/10/2021/4/14/313/

 

[Hobbes]

BTS-002, also known as OK-GLI can be seen in the Technikmuseum in Speyer. It's the best-preserved Buran artefact.

 

[flateric]

Как была устроена индивидуальная СОЖ на корабле «Буран»

научно-производственное предприятие «Звезда» (АО «НПП «Звезда»), разработало для многоразовой космической системы (МКС) аварийно-спасательный скафандр «Стриж» и катапультное кресло К-36РБ. Катапультное кресло К-36РБ в сочетании с СК «Стриж» обеспечивали возможность катапультирования членов...

zen.yandex.ru

Катапуьтное кресло К-36РБ: Катапультирование из «Бурана» на высотах 35-40км. при скорости 3-4 мах

Под креслом видны разгонные блоки (РБ) и дополнительные штанги стабилизации, которые отсутствуют в авиационных модификациях К-36 Изначально требования к катапультному креслу для системы «Энергия-Буран» ограничивались спасением экипажа во время летных испытаний на заданных режимах полета...

zen.yandex.ru

Скафандр "Стриж" для корабля «Буран» - катапультирование на скорости 4 мах.

Но главной изюминкой скафандра «Стриж» было требование обеспечения безопасности членов экипажа при катапультировании на активном участке полета при скоростях М=3-4 мах и высотах 30-40км. В этих условиях, помимо аэродинамических нагрузок, остро вставала проблема сильного нагрева скафандра.

zen.yandex.ru

Яндекс

Найдётся всё

zen.yandex.ru

 

[Richard N]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1441198630560534528

View: https://twitter.com/ClosertoSpace/status/1441198630560534528?s=20

 

[uk 75]

Probably already covered in an Alt History thread but I cannot help thinking that spaceflight would have benefited if the Energia/Buran programme could have carried on.

 

[publiusr]

I keep pushing for SLS to evolve into Shuttle II if Starship doesn’t work out. With hydrogen engines off the orbiter, it can have better handling characteristics.

 

[Orionblamblam]

I keep pushing for SLS to evolve into Shuttle II if Starship doesn’t work out. With hydrogen engines off the orbiter, it can have better handling characteristics.

And even worse economics!

Oh, boy, a reusable payload shroud sucking up the payload potential of a launch vehicle that costs a quarter billion dollars a pop!

 

[publiusr]

It is still simpler part count wise. It just needs some backers to get it away from Boeing

 

[helmutkohl]

looks like more foreign youtubers have managed to sneak in and video taped Buran
These two were actually arrested though

but the video does have some interesting bits of Buran from the 33:00 mark

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fZ-r5Qe3tM

 

[publiusr]

The Energia-Buran stack is still the most futuristic looking craft I have ever seen on a pad.

 

[flanker]

A bit off topic, but kinda on topic; Bald is a rapist and a sex tourist. Used to watch him before but not ever since finding that out. In general he is a tool and a creep as well.

On topic; Personally i have never cared about Buran but Energiya is an engineering marvel. Such a shame it only flew twice and never got close to its true potential.

 

[flateric]

Probably you will have to use VPN though

https://www.roscosmos.ru/39897/

 

[Archibald]

On topic; Personally i have never cared about Buran but Energiya is an engineering marvel. Such a shame it only flew twice and never got close to its true potential.

Same feelings overall, albeit mixed. My POV is that the very concept of space shuttles was deeply flawed, but the Russian take at it was interesting nonetheless. Not only an orbiter (Buran) but also the full and entire family of rockets spun out of it: Energiya, Zenit, and all the others.
Something the US Shuttle could not do, because the mix of SSME and SRB and ET could not make interesting ELVs (SRB-X, Jarvis, Ares 1, Ares V, SLS... meh). Except perhaps DIRECT's Jupiter 120.

 

[LVisingr]

Probably you will have to use VPN though

https://www.roscosmos.ru/39897/

Thanks for the link, but I'm not able to download the PDFs. I only get message SSL_ERROR_RX_RECORD_TOO_LONG. Please, can you download them and upload them somewhere? Thanks.

 

[Byeman]

The Energia-Buran stack is still the most futuristic looking craft I have ever seen on a pad.

That would be due to a lack of experience and knowledge and a bias towards everything Soviet

 

[flateric]

Thanks for the link, but I'm not able to download the PDFs. I only get message SSL_ERROR_RX_RECORD_TOO_LONG. Please, can you download them and upload them somewhere? Thanks.

Buran 35

Посмотреть и скачать с Яндекс Диска

disk.yandex.ru

 

[flateric]

https://rgantd.ru/virtual/kosmos/buran-rozhdenie-proekta-k-35-letiyu-zapuska/

 

[TheKutKu]

Buran 35

Посмотреть и скачать с Яндекс Диска

disk.yandex.ru

In File 29 about air transport of loads, what are the longer boosters/Blok A without recovery systems under the name 23/25 GT ? they're a good 7-8m longer than the Block A used for Energia.

 

[flateric]

Б.И.Губанов. Триумф и трагедия «Энергии» глава 38

Диспетчер Карлос

Диспетчер Карлос is on Facebook. Join Facebook to connect with Диспетчер Карлос and others you may know. Facebook gives people the power to share and makes the world more open and connected.

www.facebook.com

 

[TheKutKu]

Б.И.Губанов. Триумф и трагедия «Энергии» глава 38

Диспетчер Карлос

Диспетчер Карлос is on Facebook. Join Facebook to connect with Диспетчер Карлос and others you may know. Facebook gives people the power to share and makes the world more open and connected.

www.facebook.com

"Blocks A of the Vulcan launch vehicle are not equipped with recovery means and associated elements. Compared to blocks A of the Energia rocket, the volume of fuel tanks has been increased due to cylindrical inserts 7 m long."

Ah so Vulcan boosters were indeed longer, thanks

An upgraded Zenit based on Vulcan!Block A with RD179 would have be interesting.

 

[aonestudio]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1756002541689602514

View: https://twitter.com/11K25_Energia/status/1756002541689602514

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UuptV46P2rc

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfOFFn7y84M

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9H0O-gxJ4Y

 

[Willythekid]

Buran gyro platform

 

[Michel Van]

Energia Rocket was also design to launch other payload (source X)

 

[Willythekid]

«Biser-4» (SH16M), the Buran's digital on-board computer

✔ Developed by the Pilyugin Center NPTsAP (Moscow), it had the structure of the American IBM 360 computer.

✔ Eight of these computers were planned to be used on the Buran, forming two identical computer systems of four synchronized computers each (Central System and Peripheral System). On the first (and last Buran flight) only four Biser-4 computers were used. These computers provided redundancy to all Buran control operations, and were synchronized by hardware. The computer system had a single quartz oscillator that supplies all eight Biser-4 computers with a single sequence of clock pulses with a frequency of 4 MHz and an interrupt period of 32.8 ms. Since the reference oscillator also had to meet the requirement of “reliable operation under two faults”, it had five redundancy channels, and at the output of which the “three out of five” voting scheme was installed.

✔ The Buran computer system had three magnetic tape memory units (MMUs) with a capacity of 819 KB (32-bit words) each for storing software and loading it into the computers' RAMs during flight. In addition to the onboard programs, the MMUs could also store information useful for the onboard displays used during manned flights. To ensure reliability, the information for each ML was duplicated.

Main characteristics:

Frequency, MHz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Processor name. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 582 IK1 Series
Number of I/O processors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Form of number representation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Fixed comma
Bit depth, bits:
commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16, 32
operands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8, 16, 32, 64
Short operation execution time
(in RR and RX formats), µs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Computing performance, op/s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 370.000
RAM capacity, KB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 512
ROM capacity, KB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
RAM semiconductor name . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . 537RU9 Series
ROM semiconductor name . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . 556RT7 Series
Name of other semiconductor elements . . . . . . . . 134, 106, 533,1533 TTL Series
Number of galvanically isolated serial interface
communication lines for connection
of exchange controllers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . 21
Throughput capacity of the I/O system, Kbaud . . . 1000
Real time duty cycle, ms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Supply Voltage, V . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23-34
Operating temperature range, °С . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . -10...+50
Power consumption, W . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240
Dimensions, mm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 660×240×310
Weight, kg . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33,6

 

[Willythekid]

Diagram of the Biser-4's structure, and images of its supposed motherboard (4 x 582 IK1 Series processor).

 

[Willythekid]

The Buran computer system had three magnetic tape memory units (MMUs) with a capacity of 819 KB (32-bit words) each for storing software and loading it into the computers' RAMs during flight. In addition to the onboard programs, the MMUs could also store information useful for the onboard displays used during manned flights. To ensure reliability, the information for each ML was duplicated.