[FPSPACE] Rare Photos of the Russian "Buran" Space

[Bart Hendrickx]

Ed Cameron wrote :

>   #2. Ptitchka was the name of the orbiter that was in preparation in July
1992.

Ed, that's a myth that somehow keeps resurfacing. Ptichka ("Birdie")
actually was a nickname for Soviet orbiters in general (just like a US
Shuttle engineer might affectionately refer to an orbiter as "the bird").
The second flight vehicle never had a name painted on it. In the press it
was sometimes called "Buran-2", but to the best of my knowledge it was never
officially named. The Russians would probably have given this matter serious
thought only if the vehicle had ever come close to launch, which in the end
it never did. The Soviet orbiters did have designators somewhat comparable
to the OV designators for the US vehicles. The first flight vehicle was 1K,
the second flight vehicle 2K etc. These designators also appeared in the
mission numbers.  The first flight of vehicle 1K was 1K1, the (cancelled)
maiden flight of vehicle 2K was 2K1 etc.

Bart Hendrickx