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Author Topic:   Speyer Technik: Space Expo, Buran shuttle
Robert Pearlman
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From: Houston, TX
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posted 09-24-2004 04:36 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
It may have never been intended to orbit the globe, but a Russian Buran space shuttle has been circling the Earth ever since being retired from atmospheric approach and landing tests in 1988. After being offered on the web without a sale, Buran-Analogue 002 (OK-GLI) was finally sold to an Australian company organizing its exhibition in Sydney Harbour for the 2000 Olympics.

When the display closed due to financial constraints, investors negotiated to have the Buran moved to Bahrain where it was displayed as part of a 2002 summer festival. Again money issues became a concern, and the Buran laid in waiting, partially dismantled, at a Persian Gulf port.

The Buran was slated again to move, this time to Germany sometime over the next six months. For a reported high six-digit deal, the orbiter was to join the exhibits at the Speyer Technical Museum.

The Buran however, may remain stranded in Bahrain until a legal dispute between its past and present owners is settled.

At question is whether the company that built the Buran, NPO Molniya, can sell the shuttle to the Speyer Technical Museum after the Space Shuttle World Tour, which brought the orbiter to Bahrain, defaulted on their contractual payments. At a court hearing on Tuesday, a lawyer for the Singapore-based Tour will argue that the Buran cannot be sold until its ownership is ruled in court.

Hart Sastrowardoyo
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From: Toms River, NJ
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posted 09-24-2004 05:57 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Hart Sastrowardoyo   Click Here to Email Hart Sastrowardoyo     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Kind of reminds me when oil prospectors found the remains of a missing WWII B-24 years later in the desert. If any more treasures like this are found (or when people return to the moon and they come upon the LRVs), I hope they say three words: "Hello, old friend."

kosmonavtka
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From: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
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posted 09-26-2004 09:36 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for kosmonavtka     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Hopefully the analog will now find a good home and be looked after properly!

collshubby
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From: Madisonville, Louisiana
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posted 09-27-2004 04:50 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for collshubby   Click Here to Email collshubby     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I visited the Buran when it was in Sydney. I thought they had a pretty good set-up. It was a neat chance to get up close to a real space shuttle. It is a shame they had the financial problems that they did. I don't think they promoted it enough. Too bad they couldn't shove it in somewheres near the Powerhouse Museum, where they have some interesting space artifacts.

spaceflori
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posted 09-27-2004 09:18 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for spaceflori   Click Here to Email spaceflori     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
The Buran Shuttle will find a good home at the Speyer Technik Museum, one of the largest technology museums in the world.

kosmonavtka
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From: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
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posted 09-30-2004 07:26 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for kosmonavtka     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I remember when the Buran analog was in Sydney and that I was having thoughts about going up there in early 2001 to see it. On the company's website of then (which has since disappeared), they said the analog would be touring Australia, including coming to Melbourne, so I decided to wait. So much for that!

It would have been awesome to see it.

Robert Pearlman
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posted 03-07-2008 09:05 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
An update via Bart Hendrickx:
Russian Buran historian Vadim Lukashevich reports that BTS-002, the Buran model used for approach and landing tests in the 1980s, left Bahrain on March 4 and is now on its way to its final destination, the Technik Museum Speyer in Germany.

The vehicle reportedly had a close call as it was being lowered to the deck of the ship used for the transport. One of the hooks holding BTS-002 gave way when the vehicle was still suspended two meters above the deck, with the aft fuselage hitting the quay wall in the process. However, BTS-002 does not appear to have suffered any major structural damage.

Museum officials are expected to hold a news conference on the transport early next week.

Robert Pearlman
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posted 03-12-2008 01:13 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Technik Museum Speyer release (translated from German via Google)



See below for more photographs from the Buran's journey
Russian scientists in 1976 developed a new space system that was very similar to the US space shuttle. The new space shuttle was named Buran, which translates in Russian to "snow storm". When compared, there are a few differences between the Russian Buran and the US Space Shuttle. The Buran is bigger than all the American counterparts. Moreover, unmanned flights were possible with the Buran.

The Buran 002 is the test version of the shuttle, with engines, used between 1984 and 1988 for a total of 25 atmospheric flights.

Because of the enormous cost, the Russian Buran Project was canceled by Russian president Michael Gorbachev after its first successful space flight in 1988.

How did the Technik Museum Sinsheim/Speyer come to own Buran? The Buran at stake had been at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, brought there on loan for exhibition to the public. After the display in Australia, the Buran went on exhibition in Manama, Bahrain. The Buran then was moved to the Manama port where it was stored in a closed storage space.

The museum team followed the Buran for over 10 years. After the exhibition in Bahrain, the museum bought the Russian Buran from its owners. The purchase contract noted that the Buran was free of third party claims but a short time after the signing, the museum learned of a businessman from Singapore, who claimed ownership before a Bahraini court.

The museum fought the charges for 4.5 years during which time about 20 individual cases were ruled in the museum's favor.

The whole museum staff is delighted that it has now added a new chapter to the history of the Buran. The Buran was loaded from the Manama, Bahrain port onto a pontoon, which then transferred the shuttle to an ocean freighter. This was a great moment for the museum team.

Overseeing the move was Michael Walter, the museum's managing director, Lorenz Glück, the museum's counsel, and Holger Hamann, the museum's chief engineer, who proudly reported success. The vessel is now in international waters and is heading to Europe. If everything goes as planned, the Buran will arrive in Rotterdam, the Netherlands at the end of March.

Preparations for the arrival of the Buran at the Technology Museum in Speyer is in full swing. To accommodate the Buran, it was necessary to build a new 22-metre-high museum hall. The steel skeleton of the hall is already done. Now, with the pressure increased, the roof and floor will be finished in time for Buran's arrival.

The museum has budgeted nearly $10 million for the Buran and its display.

Click on thumbnails to enlarge. Photos: Technik Museum Speyer

Moonpaws
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posted 03-12-2008 05:29 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Moonpaws   Click Here to Email Moonpaws     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Really neat. I'm glad it's finding a home.

Spaceflyer
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From: Nauheim, Germany
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posted 03-25-2008 03:39 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Spaceflyer   Click Here to Email Spaceflyer     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Due to bad weather in the Mediterranian Sea the Buran 002 is now set to arrive in Rotterdam on April 1 and will be there 2-3 days in preparation for the trip via the Rhein river to the Technik Museum in Speyer.

Gerhard Daum
Chairman Space Expo e.V.
"Apollo and Beyond" at the
Technik Museum Speyer 2008

michaelSN99
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From: heilbronn,germany
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posted 03-25-2008 08:06 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for michaelSN99   Click Here to Email michaelSN99     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
We are very proud in hosting the OK-GLI 0.02 in Germany soon.

Thanks to Gerhard and his Space Expo team for bringing the bird to Speyer. If you see almost all of the ever built Soviet Buran models and test models in their sad conditions all over Russia or Kazakhstan, its a great relief this very important piece of spaceflight history will get a very adequate place for her final stay.

Spaceflyer
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From: Nauheim, Germany
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posted 03-26-2008 11:16 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Spaceflyer   Click Here to Email Spaceflyer     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
A little correction. Space Expo is not bringing the bird to the Technik Museum in Speyer, it's the museum board of directors. They worked on that project about 4 to 5 years. I am only the consultant for manned spaceflight for the museum and my association will bring all NASA projects past, current and future on display.

We are about 8 people but only myself and Martina Faikis are preparing everything for display. She designed all the display panels (about 120). I can tell it was a lot of work the past three years and still for two but we are very much excited as a partner of the museum to open the biggest exhibition for manned spaceflight in Europe in September 2008.

April 1 is not a joke it is now the scheduled arrival date for the Buran but due to weather conditions it may be delayed by a few more days.

I will post any update when I have new infos.

Pilot Mark
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From: Zutphen, The Netherlands
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posted 03-26-2008 04:32 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Pilot Mark     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Will the Buran be accessible to the public earlier than September 2008 or will that be on the date the exhibition is opened?

michaelSN99
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From: heilbronn,germany
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posted 04-01-2008 03:16 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for michaelSN99   Click Here to Email michaelSN99     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
The current plan for the transportation of the Buran OK-GLI from Rotterdam to Speyer has been announced today (in German) by the Speyer Technik Museum.

Jacques van Oene
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From: Houten, The Netherlands
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posted 04-05-2008 10:33 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Jacques van Oene     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
The Buran in Rotterdam, photos taken by me.

kucharek
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From: Karlsruhe, Germany
Registered: Oct 2003

posted 04-05-2008 11:49 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for kucharek     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Living not far from Speyer, I hope I can attend the "landing" of the Buran on saturday.
Not my first one...

Gorky Park

Speyer's has a better fate than the Moscow one, who ended up in an amusement park with a cinema in the cargo bay.

I can imagine, the museum people are already nailing NASA to get a US shuttle after their retirement. They are already (still?) the only museum showing the world's only SST aircrafts Concorde and Tu-144 in one place:

050724-150822.hk.dc

...(in their dependence Sinsheim not too far from Speyer) and they surely would love to be the only museum to show the worlds only space shuttles in one place.

michaelSN99
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From: heilbronn,germany
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posted 04-05-2008 01:20 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for michaelSN99   Click Here to Email michaelSN99     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
We are providing a little contest of digital images at our German space news site, which shows the Buran transport through The Netherlands and Germany next week. Everybody who is taking images from the Buran is invited, to take part.

It's in German language, for translations please contact us.

kucharek
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From: Karlsruhe, Germany
Registered: Oct 2003

posted 04-07-2008 03:42 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for kucharek     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Just caught Buran with a webcam at the Rhine near Rees.

Harald Kraenzel
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From: Dinslaken,Germany
Registered: Nov 2005

posted 04-07-2008 12:47 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Harald Kraenzel   Click Here to Email Harald Kraenzel     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Reading that Buran will be transported via the Rhine passing Wesel and Voerde I had a detailed look at the timeframe. Reading that it will pass Voerde on April 7 at 6 a.m. I was a little bit disappointed because I had a meeting from 10:00 to 12:00 and therefore not possible to go to Voerde.

But some technical problems in Millingen caused the timeframe to change which let Buran pass Voerde later that day. Therefore I was able to ride to Voerde (see map -viewing position-) to view that event.

Between around 14:45 and 15:15 Buran was shipped through that specific rhine curve and I was able to make some photos.

Robert Pearlman
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posted 04-08-2008 02:33 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Reuters: Soviet space shuttle chugs up the Rhine
Three Rhine barges are hauling a former Soviet space shuttle on a roughly 600 km (375 miles) journey up the river to a museum in western Germany because the spacecraft is too unwieldy to be transported in any other way.

The sight of the 36 meter-long, black and white shuttle, which weighs nearly 100 tonnes, contrasts with the usual pleasure boats which cruise up and down Germany's longest river.

Buran, on its way to the Technical Museum in the city of Speyer, started its barge journey in the Dutch port of Rotterdam and crossed the border into Germany on Monday.

"We are going to be on the river the whole week and will arrive in Speyer on Saturday," museum director Hermann Layher told Reuters Television.

kucharek
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From: Karlsruhe, Germany
Registered: Oct 2003

posted 04-08-2008 03:06 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for kucharek     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Buran is currently passing Dosseldorf.

The Rhine is heavily used for cargo ships, which by far outweight pleasure boats. But those cargo ships usually have other cargo than spacecraft.

I don't know how much the transport costs, but if the museum would have to pay for all the free TV coverage, it would have to spent more, I'm sure. That surely is also the reason why they put Buran's wings into nearly the normal position instead transporting them separately, making the load much less wide, but also much less appealing to the cams.

michaelSN99
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From: heilbronn,germany
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posted 04-08-2008 08:18 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for michaelSN99   Click Here to Email michaelSN99     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Very nice new shots are also shown at our image contest side.

Thousands of people today watched the transport from the banks and bridges of Rhine river and gave the bird a great welcome in the towns in Germany's west.

kucharek
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From: Karlsruhe, Germany
Registered: Oct 2003

posted 04-09-2008 04:39 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for kucharek     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Passing Konigswinter. Slowly but surely, it enters the part of the romantic Rhine...

michaelSN99
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From: heilbronn,germany
Registered: Apr 2005

posted 04-09-2008 09:33 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for michaelSN99   Click Here to Email michaelSN99     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
The Buran transport passed today the former west German capital Bonn. A nice shot taken from the southern bridge from a participant of our image contest is now online.

michaelSN99
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From: heilbronn,germany
Registered: Apr 2005

posted 04-09-2008 09:05 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for michaelSN99   Click Here to Email michaelSN99     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
New shots from Voerde, Koeln and Koblenz.

kucharek
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From: Karlsruhe, Germany
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posted 04-11-2008 09:01 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for kucharek     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Plenty of pics on Flickr and plenty of clips on YouTube.

michaelSN99
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From: heilbronn,germany
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posted 04-11-2008 06:24 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for michaelSN99   Click Here to Email michaelSN99     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Today the bird arrived at its final destination Speyer. This marks the end of the transport at water. Tomorrow, the prototype shuttle will moved the last few kilometers by special trucks from the ponton ship in the harbour to the Technik Museum Speyer.

Robert Pearlman
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posted 10-06-2008 04:36 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
CNN: Soviet shuttle finally gets a home

A Soviet space shuttle has finally landed in a museum. After a long history and a virtual world tour, a Shuttle Buran was put on permanent display to the public on Friday at the "Technik Museum Speyer" near Manheim, Germany.


Buran Analogue 002 (OK-GLI) is not the only Buran on display at the museum; they also have the BOR-5.


Above photographs courtesy of Vadzim Vinakur (Reedcat on flickr).

Robert Pearlman
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posted 12-25-2008 09:04 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
collectSPACE member Gerhard Daum, whose collection comprises much of "Apollo and Beyond", the exhibit that accompanies the Buran at the Speyer Technik Museum, has shared the following photographs and further details.

"Apollo and Beyond" encompasses 240 artifacts and 126 display panels, including flown and training items from the Mercury, Gemini, Apollo and space shuttle programs and astronauts.

Robert Pearlman
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posted 12-25-2008 09:08 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
In addition to the Buran, large exhibits include the original Spacelab training module on loan from the German Space Agency (DLR), full scale and 1:10 scale European Space Agency Columbus modules, and 1:18 scale model of the International Space Station (c.1998 configuration).

Robert Pearlman
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From: Houston, TX
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posted 12-25-2008 09:11 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
"Apollo and Beyond" includes high quality replicas of John Glenn's Mercury spacesuit, Wally Schirra's Gemini spacesuit and Neil Armstrong's A7L Apollo spacesuit.


The exhibit also features a 1:15 Ariane 5 scale rocket.

AstronautBrian
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posted 12-25-2008 10:11 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for AstronautBrian   Click Here to Email AstronautBrian     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Hello there, old friend. I'm glad it has a place to call home now.

hlbjr
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From: Delray Beach Florida USA
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posted 12-22-2009 03:08 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for hlbjr   Click Here to Email hlbjr     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I just saw this newly posted photo on Airliners.net of the Buran payload bay which is on display in Speyer Germany.

The registration number of the Buran is CCCP-3501002. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

All times are CT (US)

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