We’re pretty sure we’ve almost all thought of the Space Race as Yuri Gagarin’s. first human in space and Neil Armstrong and his team in 1969 land on the moon We remember with peak points like

While it’s normal to remember this process only with its breadth, it’s also helpful to think about how that breadth was achieved. In fact, vehicles that largely support this process are contrary to popular belief. It wasn’t just rockets and satellites.

After the human launches and rocket launches of the Space Race, the parties’ new focus was to send more crews and more cargo into space.

In vain to the Space Race”race“The rivals were almost in a race to get space into their sphere of influence and they made all sorts of attempts.

Of course, the continuity of this race had to be ensured somehow. The way to be in space permanently was to send as much cargo into space as possible. After all, every payload, every satellite, and every space lab is sent into space permanent scars was able to get them to leave.

• The image above is where most cargo is shipped today. of the International Space Station A picture.

As a solution to this, the US began developing vehicles that they defined as “space shuttle”. Of these, the Columbia was the first space shuttle to successfully complete its mission.

Space shuttles were seen as one of the best solutions for sending both crew and cargo into space. Average 25 tons They are known for carrying loads.

After the successful launch of the US’s first space shuttle, the USSR began to worry that space could be weaponized. He launched his own space shuttle program, the Buran program.

Also known by the Russian abbreviation “VKK” (“Vazdushna-Kasmicheski Karabl” / “Air and Spaceship”), and translated the name into Turkish”bora” or “Blizzard“we can translate as”here“The design was a reusable space shuttle model of American space shuttles like Columbia.

Until the first shuttle was successfully launched into space in 1988. kept as a state secret The Buran Space Shuttle program was a vehicle that was planned to have the potential to attack, despite the ability to weaponize the space we mentioned.

Spacecraft and satellites of other states capable of destroying in orbit Although it was thought to be designed to be designed, its potential could not be discovered because there was no conflict in space.

Next to all this was the shuttle for Soviet space scientists. a large space laboratory functioned.

Unlike other space shuttles, Buran could be transported to the limits of space with gigantic and robust aircraft instead of non-reusable rockets.

In this way, the USSR with less cost It was able to send more space shuttles. Their most preferred aircraft model is the one in the picture, which was destroyed by the Russian army on February 27, 2022 during the invasion of Ukraine. Antonov An-225 Mriya modeled.

Because NASA also took advantage of this method for a while, and then focused on getting benefits in other aspects of space. that you put your focus on missiles need to specify. The rationale for this was to develop its own advantages against the advantage of the USSR with these gigantic aircraft.

After the death of 7 astronauts on the American shuttle Columbia in 2003 and the collapse of the USSR by the 90s, space shuttle programs were shelved for a long time and rockets took precedence.

The shuttle Columbia recently re-entered the atmosphere when it returned from a successful mission in 2003, and the shuttle suddenly disintegrated. This disaster also caused the United States, at the time the last space power to operate space shuttles, to launch its own space shuttle programs. by racks closed.

• The above image is a representative representation of the Columbia disaster.

The Buran program officially ended in 1993, exactly 10 years ago, about two years after the USSR collapsed. Buran and all other Soviet space shuttles, was left to rot.

The top image is in the center of Kazakhstan. Baikonur cosmodrome A Buran space shuttle left to rot. Baikonur cosmodrome, in Kazakhstan of the Russian Federation the last base where he kept his army Also known as.

The same base where the space shuttles were in 2002. hangar ceiling collapsed While it is known that the and shuttles were damaged, it is still debated whether this is why they were rotting.