Don't forget the political context of the cold war space race. A good looking spaceship made for great propaganda. Even the soviets tried to copy it.[1] [1] ht

Don't forget the political context of the cold war space race. A good looking spaceship made for great propaganda. Even the soviets tried to copy it.[1] [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buran_%28spacecraft%29 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buran_%28spacecraft%29