posted 09-29-2010 07:36 AM               

Seemingly abandoned spaceship on the streets of Moscow - it is something from the realm of fantasy. But alas, this is the true reality. Correspondent "MK" discovered orbiting Soviet "Buran" placed like garbage on the outskirts of the capital. Nobody cares what was once a symbol of cosmic power of our country.

Comparing photos and reports, it would appear this is Buran OK-2.01:

The completion of model 2.01 at the stop of the project was estimated to 30-50%. As you can see on the photographs it seems that it has been dismantled, after few years in the Tushino factory, near Moscow, it was moved in October 2004 on a car-park.

posted 09-29-2010 10:36 AM               

It's not that easy to reach the abandoned spaceship, but it is possible, writes Moskovsky Komsomolets. Buran's resting place is also a storage spot for construction materials and is protected by a security guard and barbed wire fences.

But a side entry through a neighbouring plot can beat the security and grant an up-close look at the remains of the space-age dream.

posted 07-10-2011 12:34 AM               

On 22 June 2011 during the day Buran "Article 2.01" (the third flight article whose production was aborted at stage of 50% completion) was put on barge and sailed along the Moscow river to town of Zhukovsky where it will supposedly undergo a restoration to be prepared for display at a biannual MAKS air show.

Before 2004, Buran 2.01 was stored in a warehouse of Tushino Machine Building plant. In 2004 private entrepreneur Igor Rudinsky, owner of "SIA International" pharmaceutical company purchased the partly disassembled airframe from Tushino plant for $120,000 and moved it to a pier on the bank of Khimki water reservoir where it sat until recently, suffering from annual cycle of weather and occasionally, from vandals.

posted 07-10-2011 04:22 PM               

These Russian orbiters need to be saved and put on display just like their NASA counterparts. Nothing like them will ever be built again.

Unfortunately the original flown Buran shuttle is now landfill after being destroyed in a tragic roof collapse in 2002, whilst the second orbiter (97% complete) is the property of Kazakhstan and is locked away in a hangar in Baikonur.

posted 03-08-2022 03:07 PM               

Several followers sent me a link to the article which said that a Buran hull, transported by truck, was spotted near Moscow this Saturday. Looks like that this is Buran 2.01 [being] moved from Zhukovsky airport to private Zadorozhny's Museum of Technics.

posted 09-04-2024 02:25 PM               

In August 2024, footage and photos appeared of the orbiter's arrival at the UMMC and the museum's director was quoted as saying that they plan to restore [it] and display it in a specially-built pavilion.

It is unclear if the ownership was transferred.

The private museum is dedicated to the mechanical and military history of the Ural Federal District. The complex, which constitutes three museums (military, automotive, aviation), is funded by the Ural Mining and Metallurgical Company and houses a substantial collection of vehicles and other artifacts.