Buran-Energia

I just uploaded a part about the Antonov 225′s engine the D-18T in the Mriya’s chapter. This part includes detailled schematics of the differents sets of the engine as well as technical datas.

The Mriya landed at the Schiphol airport at Amsterdam. It’s the first time the Antonov land at this airport and for the occasion there was a lot of people. We don’t have any informations about the load.

The Mriya was today at the Prestwick airport (Glasgow city). The transport company Ocean Sky made it come for carrying an extraordinary load.

Ocean Sky Director Eddie Allison said: « The 225 is remarkable. Only a few airports can handle this behemoth and Glasgow Prestwick is one. Ocean Sky is extremely proud to have been awarded the handling contract for this unique aircraft as well as its smaller brother, the AN124.

« Regular types of freight on the 225 include power station turbines and, most recently, heavy equipment sent to Alabama where a cement factory had shut down and urgently needed this equipment to re-commence production. It is also used in humanitarian situations where the Antonov’s massive lift capability can make a real difference. »

Here it is a very interesting reporting, in Russian, about the Buran space shuttle. It was broadcasted on Russian television in the show « Russia’s wings ».

More videos.

The Mriya landed on friday November, 30 on the Toulouse-Blagnac’s airport, near the Toulouse town.

The An-225 came to France to take a military choper EC725 of the Eurocopter company (EADS group), which can carry 29 soldiers and 2 crew members.

It will leave again on saturday to Kuala-Lumpur (Malaisya) throuh Karachi (Pakistan).

May be it will come back at the end of the year.

Triumph and tragedy of « Energia » is a book about the most powerful launcher in the world: Energia. Written by Boris Ivanovich Gubanov, project manager, he tells the tragic history and the anecdotes of the elaboration of the launcher, as well as the vision of the Soviet’s space in the 2000s.

There are 2 new videos about the OK-GLI shuttle, one on its assembling once arriving at the Sydney’s harbor, and another one on the reception of the exhibition.
Indeed, in february 2000 the test space shuttle OK-GLI is send at Sydney (Darling Harbour) for an exhibition about the Buran project. But due to financial troubles the exhibition is closed few months later.

Another video is about the transportation of Buran models to Baikonur with the VM-T Atlant and AN-225 planes.

The last video is a little presentation of the MIG-25, plane which was used to chase Buran during its descent to the Baikonur airport in November 15, 1988.

Videos:

I just published a new chapter in the documentation part. It’s newspaper articles published from the begining of the project until the end of 1988.

Those newspapers are predominantly in Russian (Pravda, Red Star, …) and was translated automatically.

Even if they have mistakes they are interesting for feeling the atmosphere of those days.