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Agree, they didn't go beyond LEO. However, at about the same time, Soviets launched several Zonds - which were stripped-down versions of Soyuz spacecrafts - to
by avmich 12y ago
Agree, they didn't go beyond LEO. However, at about the same time, Soviets launched several Zonds - which were stripped-down versions of Soyuz spacecrafts - to Moon fly-bys, in automatic mode. In 1988 USSR launched Buran - arguably a close technical sibling of the Space Shuttle - admittedly on LEO (would be really amusing to see a bird like that higher than on LEO), also unmanned. I wonder if that still allows to say "this is something that was not possible during Apollo/Shuttle programs".
- chton 12y agoI agree, the article may put this somewhat strongly. I guess we'll see with that first launch what is so special about it. A fully automated launch-to-landing sequence would have been hard to do in the sixties, but I also wouldn't go so far as saying impossible.