> The once-great Buran space shuttles lie derelict in Kazakhstan and Russia (not even in a museum!). Buran was developed under the impression that the Shuttle

> The once-great Buran space shuttles lie derelict in Kazakhstan and Russia (not even in a museum!). Buran was developed under the impression that the Shuttle would have a primarily military use, to place weapons in orbit, and so was made for a similar sort of imagined mission. The Shuttle just didn't get used the way the US hoped to use it at the start, and ended up wasting a lot of resources and money. It made a lot of sense to cancel Buran then. But yes, the remains of the program could have used better treatment. One of the models was used as a roof for a bicycle rental at a public park in Moscow. So at least you could see that very easily. https://i0.wp.com/www.travelsinorbit.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/moscow_space_sights_02.jpg https://i0.wp.com/www.travelsinorbit.com/wp-content/uploads/... https://i0.wp.com/www.travelsinorbit.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/moscow_space_sights_05.jpg https://i0.wp.com/www.travelsinorbit.com/wp-content/uploads/... > Investment in nuclear power has collapsed as projects like this show (and Germany's recent decision to shut down all nuclear power plants). Investment in nuclear made a lot of sense back when countries wanted lots of nuclear missiles. As far as peaceful applications go, nuclear just doesn't compete on price. I think the tech is very cool, but nobody is going to spend tens of billions just for the sake of cool.