Visualized: the fate of the most ambitious Soviet-era space exploration project

Project Buran was the USSR’s answer to NASA’s Space Shuttle Columbia. Unlike its highly decorated American counterpart, however, this child of the 1970s produced only one unmanned space flight during its operation and was ignominiously shut down by Russian authorities in 1993. The remains of this most ambitious (and expensive) effort are still around, however, and have now taken on a layer of rust, weeds and general decay that would make any post-apocalyptic set designer swoon with admiration. It’s as beautiful as it is sad, this gallery of failed human endeavor, and you can see it in full at the link below. Continue reading Visualized: the fate of the most ambitious Soviet-era space exploration project Visualized: the fate of the most ambitious Soviet-era space exploration project originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 19 Jan 2011 02:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink

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