Russia's lost ship... Imitation is said to be the best form of flattery. However in the old cold war between the Soviet Union and the USA. It was a form of warfare. "Anything you can do, we can do better." kind of a thing. A global pissing contest that led to many advancements in space technology. At the time the US Space shuttle was cutting edge and reuseable. It charmed the world over. After the Apollo program was shut down by the other wet paper bag of President John Carter. Not to mention the loss of the only space station America had ever had. Russia for a brief time had space to themselves. NASA rolled out the Shuttle in 1979 and had a manned flight in 1980. After that, it was an Icon for over thirty years. Russia felt it had lost a major battle with technology in the space arms race and had to have a shuttle of their own called the Buran. The Buran looked almost identical to our shuttle with a few differences. With a Russian twist of course. It even had an automated landing capability similar to the automated dock system the Soyuz had for docking with their space stations. However, the time of its creation led to it never having more than one unmanned launch. By 1990 the Soviet Union ended. Leaving the expensive Buran grounded and left in its hanger. When the old hanger collapsed it destroyed the shuttle. It's sad really... I would have loved to see this ship give the USA some competition in space, Who knows maybe if it did The Shuttles from both counties might still be flying missions today. #xephula #minds #space #Buran #history #russia