Editing Buran programme (section)

=== Key differences between Energia-Buran system and NASA's Space Shuttle ===
* Unlike the Space Shuttle's boosters, each of Energia's four boosters had their own guidance, navigation, and control system.<ref>{{cite web |title=Первая ступень ракеты-носителя "Энергия" |url=https://www.buran.ru/htm/firststg.htm |website=Буран.ру |access-date=15 July 2022}}</ref> Known as [[Zenit-2]], they were used as launch vehicles on their own to deliver smaller payloads than those requiring the complete Energia-Buran system. Space Shuttle boosters each had their own guidance and control system, but all navigation functions were centrally located in the shuttle orbiter; the autonomous guidance functions of the boosters were therefore more limited, primarily oriented to safe separation from the external tank and orbiter during staging after booster fuel exhaustion.
* Energia could be configured with four, two or no boosters for payloads other than Buran, and in full configuration was able to put up to 100 metric tons into orbit.<ref name="Energia (rocket) EnergiaOffSite">{{cite web |title=Launch vehicle Energia |url=http://www.energia.ru/english/energia/launchers/vehicle_energia.html |website=RSC Energia |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210627225723/http://www.energia.ru/english/energia/launchers/vehicle_energia.html |archive-date=27 June 2021 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The [[Space Shuttle orbiter]] was integral to its launch system and was the system's only payload.
* Energia's four [[Zenit (rocket family)#Energia booster|boosters]] used [[Liquid rocket propellant|liquid propellant]] ([[kerosene]]/[[oxygen]]). The Space Shuttle's two boosters used solid propellant.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nasa.gov/returntoflight/system/system_SRB.html |title=Space Shuttle: Solid Rocket Boosters |work=NASA.gov |access-date=16 October 2010 |archive-date=6 April 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130406193019/http://www.nasa.gov/returntoflight/system/system_SRB.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
* The liquid fueled booster rockets were not constructed in segments vulnerable to leakage through O-rings, which caused the [[Space Shuttle Challenger disaster|destruction]] of{{OV|099|full=no}}.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Demir |first=Banu |last2=Cecilia Fieler |first2=Ana |last3=Yi Xu |first3=Daniel |last4=Kaili Yang |first4=Kelly |date=November 15, 2023 |title=O-Ring Production Networks |url=https://www.nber.org/papers/w28433 |journal=Journal of Political Economy |volume=132 |issue=1 |pages=200-247 |via=Chicago Journals}}</ref>
* Energia's four boosters were designed to be recovered after each flight,<ref name="gubanov98triumph" />{{Disputed inline|talk=Talk:Buran (spacecraft)#Factual Errors|date=August 2024}} though they were not recovered during Energia's two operational flights. The Space Shuttle's boosters were recovered and reused.
*Buran{{'s}} equivalent of the [[Space Shuttle Orbital Maneuvering System]] used GOX/LOX/Kerosene propellant, with lower toxicity and higher performance (a [[specific impulse]] of {{convert|362|isp}} using a [[turbopump]] system)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.buran.ru/htm/odu.htm |title=Объединенная двигательная установка (ОДУ) |trans-title=Joint Propulsion System (JPS) |work=Buran.ru |first=Vadim |last=Lukashevich |access-date=21 November 2013 |archive-date=20 November 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131120000003/http://www.buran.ru/htm/odu.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> than the Shuttle's pressure-fed [[monomethylhydrazine]]/[[dinitrogen tetroxide]] OMS engines.
*Buran was designed to be capable of both [[human spaceflight|piloted]] and fully [[Robotic spacecraft|autonomous]] flight, including landing. The Space Shuttle was later retrofitted with [[Remote Control Orbiter|remote control functions]] extending its existing crewed automated landing capability to enable uncrewed landings, first flown 18 years after the Buran on [[STS-121]], but the system was intended to be used only in contingencies.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.space.com/2560-shuttle-carry-tools-repair-remote-control-landing.html |title=Shuttle to Carry Tools for Repair and Remote-Control Landing |work=Space.com |first=Tariq |last=Malik |date=29 June 2006 |access-date=29 November 2013 |archive-date=8 March 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140308050155/http://www.space.com/2560-shuttle-carry-tools-repair-remote-control-landing.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
* The nose landing gear was located much farther back on the fuselage rather than just under the mid-deck as with the NASA Space Shuttle.{{citation needed|date=July 2022}}
*Buran was designed to lift 30 metric tons into orbit in its standard configuration, comparable to the early Space Shuttle's original 27.8 metric tons.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.astronautix.com/lvs/shuttle.htm |title=Shuttle |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopedia Astronautica]] |first=Mark |last=Wade |access-date=20 September 2010 |archive-date=13 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120313084624/http://www.astronautix.com/lvs/shuttle.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name=Aerospace>{{cite web |url=http://www.aerospaceweb.org/question/spacecraft/q0153.shtml |title=Soviet Buran Space Shuttle |work=Aerospaceweb.org |first=Jeff |last=Scott |date=5 February 2007 |access-date=16 October 2004 |archive-date=7 December 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061207020133/http://www.aerospaceweb.org/question/spacecraft/q0153.shtml |url-status=live }}</ref>{{Disputed inline|talk=Talk:Buran (spacecraft)#Factual Errors|date=August 2024}}
*Buran could return 20 tons from orbit,<ref name="auto1">{{Cite web|url=https://www.buran.ru/htm/molniya5.htm|title=Buran Orbiter|access-date=29 November 2020|archive-date=9 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201109025405/http://www.buran.ru/htm/molniya5.htm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.astronautix.com/b/buran.html|title=Buran|website=www.astronautix.com|access-date=28 June 2019|archive-date=2 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190702165618/http://www.astronautix.com/b/buran.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> vs the Space Shuttle's 15 tons.
*Buran included a [[drag chute]];<ref name="buranrulandinggear">{{cite web |title=Шасси (посадочные устройства) орбитального корабля "Буран" (11Ф35) |trans-title=Buran landing gear |url=https://www.buran.ru/htm/lan_gear.htm |website=Buran.ru |access-date=15 July 2022 |language=ru}}</ref> the Space Shuttle originally did not, but was later retrofitted to include one.
* The [[lift-to-drag ratio]] of Buran is cited as 5.6,<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1256536142 |title=Mirovai︠a︡ pilotiruemai︠a︡ kosmonavtika : istorii︠a︡, tekhnika, li︠u︡di |date=2005 |publisher=RTSoft |first1=I︠U︡. M.|last1= Baturin|first2= I. B.|last2= Afanasʹev |isbn=5990027125 |location=Moskva |oclc=1256536142}}</ref> compared to a subsonic L/D of 4.5 for the Space Shuttle.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=19850008580 |title=Space Shuttle Technical Conference, Part 1 |publisher=NASA |editor-first=Norman |editor-last=Chaffee |page=258 |year=1985 |id=N85-16889 |access-date=7 July 2017 |archive-date=9 November 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161109152820/https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=19850008580 |url-status=live }}</ref>
*Buran and Energia were moved to the launch pad horizontally on a rail transporter, and then erected and fueled at the launch site.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://englishrussia.com/2006/09/14/buran-the-first-russian-shuttle/ |title=Buran, the First Russian Shuttle |work=[[EnglishRussia.com]] |date=14 September 2006 |access-date=21 August 2012 |archive-date=23 August 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120823051920/http://englishrussia.com/2006/09/14/buran-the-first-russian-shuttle/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://chapters.marssociety.org/winnipeg/russian.html |title=Russian rockets |work=The Mars Society |access-date=21 August 2012 |archive-date=20 September 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120920030444/http://chapters.marssociety.org/winnipeg/russian.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.urbanghostsmedia.com/2011/01/6-abandoned-megamachines/ |title=6 Abandoned Mega-Machines: Jumbo Jets, Space Shuttle Transporters & More |work=Urban Ghosts |date=26 January 2011 |access-date=21 August 2012 |archive-date=24 August 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120824170320/http://www.urbanghostsmedia.com/2011/01/6-abandoned-megamachines/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The Space Shuttle was transported vertically on the [[crawler-transporter]] with loaded solid boosters but the main tank was fueled at launch site.<ref name=diesel-power>{{cite journal |url=http://www.dieselpowermag.com/features/trucks/0705dp_nasa_diesel_shuttle_crawler/viewall.html |title=NASA Diesel-Powered Shuttle Hauler – The Crawler |journal=[[Diesel Power (magazine)|Diesel Power]] |first=Jason |last=Sands |date=May 2007 |access-date=21 August 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141106000519/http://www.dieselpowermag.com/features/trucks/0705dp_nasa_diesel_shuttle_crawler/viewall.html |archive-date=6 November 2014 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
*Buran was intended to carry a crew of up to ten. The Shuttle carried up to eight in the largest crewed mission, normally carried between five and seven people in most missions,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wilson |first=Jim |title=NASA - Shuttle Basics |url=https://www.nasa.gov/returntoflight/system/system_STS_prt.htm |access-date=16 January 2023 |website=www.nasa.gov |language=en}}</ref> and could have carried up to eleven in an emergency (such as in the unlaunched [[STS-400]] rescue mission).<ref name=Aerospace/><ref name="Contingency Shuttle Crew Support">{{cite web |url=http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/153444main_CSCS_Resource_%20Book.pdf |title=Contingency Shuttle Crew Support (CSCS)/Rescue Flight Resource Book |publisher=NASA |first1=Anthony J. |last1=Ceccacci |first2=Paul F. |last2=Dye |date=12 July 2005 |access-date=9 September 2014 |archive-date=1 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160301211546/http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/153444main_CSCS_Resource_%20Book.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>
*Buran has a different thermal protection tile layout on its underside,<ref name="auto1"/> in which all gaps between heat tiles are parallel or perpendicular to the direction of airflow around the orbiter.<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=https://www.buran.ru/htm/raskroy.htm|title=Раскрой плиток|website=www.buran.ru|access-date=29 November 2020|archive-date=30 April 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200430124809/http://www.buran.ru/htm/raskroy.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>