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When it came to space matters, the soviets felt they could be comparable in capabilities to the Americans. So when they first saw the shuttle, they felt they ha
by philistine 2y ago
When it came to space matters, the soviets felt they could be comparable in capabilities to the Americans. So when they first saw the shuttle, they felt they had to have similar capabilities. And they were hella scared of the possibility of a shuttle just stealing one of their satellite. That fear was theoretical. The realistic fear was a couple of shuttles loitering in orbit ready to drop nuclear payloads on Russia with very little warning. A new leg on the nuclear triad was a real risk. So they had to come up with a spaceplane of similar capabilities, including single orbit return of a satellite. Those very specific capabilities limits your options severely.
Buran is not a copy of the Space Shuttle. I mean, the most important element of the shuttle, its reusable engines, is not even present on Buran.
- nradov 2y agoI don't think the Soviets were naive enough about orbital mechanics to believe that a Space Shuttle could "loiter" in orbit ready to drop nuclear payloads. That's just not how it works. A Shuttle in an inclined orbit would only occasionally pass over primary targets. And a weapon can't just be dropped. It requires a de-orbit burn and guidance system. It wouldn't necessarily hit any faster than existing SLBMs. From a military perspective there was at one point a plan to use the Shuttle for overhead imagery with film cameras. Launch from California into a polar orbit, make a single photo reconnaissance pass over the USSR, and land immediately back at the launch site for film processing. But advances in spy satellites eliminated the need for that mission.