’Buran’ Soviet spacecraft

“..The only orbital launch of Buran occurred on 15 November 1988 from Baikonur Cosmodrome Site 110/37. It was lifted into orbit unmanned by the specially designed Energia rocket, which to this day remains the heaviest rocket running on liquid fuel. Unlike the NASA Shuttle, which was propelled by a combination of solid boosters and the Shuttle’s own liquid-fuel engines fueled from a large fuel tank, the Energia-Buran system used only thrust from the rocket’s four RD-170 liquid oxygen/kerosene engines developed by Valentin Glushko and another four RD-0120 liquid oxygen/liquid hydrogen engines. From the very beginning Buran was intended to be used in both fully automatic and manual mode...“ “..The main differences between the space aeroplane Buran and Suttle-orbiter are follows: - the automatic landing of Buran from orbit onto airdrome; - the absence ot the main rocket engine on the orbital aeroplane. The main engine was placed onto a central block of a carrier-rocket ENERGIA which is able to launch into an