While we\u2019re waiting for Discovery to launch it\u2019s a good time to consider what\u2019s next for the shuttle.<\/p>\n
Every now and then we talk about the Russian shuttle Buran.\u00a0 Oh yes for those of you who don\u2019t know Russia did have a shuttle, they had a few different mock-ups actually.\u00a0 One thing about the Russians, they had an amazing space program, they didn\u2019t play second fiddle to anybody.\u00a0 It\u2019s no wonder they still have one of the best programs going although maybe not quite so diverse as it once was.<\/p>\n
So what happens when they discontinue a program and might our shuttle fleet meet the same fate?\u00a0 Have a look at this<\/a>.<\/p>\n My friend Kostas sent me a Google Earth KML file of the Baikonur region, I couldn’t quite figure out how to link to it here, but if you open Google Earth and put “Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakstan” in the search box you can look around.\u00a0 If you have Google Earth check it out, it\u2019s pretty interesting.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Discovery Update:\u00a0 Fueling is underway and so far there are no issues.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" While we\u2019re waiting for Discovery to launch it\u2019s a good time to consider what\u2019s next for the shuttle. Every now and then we talk about the Russian shuttle Buran.\u00a0 Oh yes for those of you who don\u2019t know Russia did … Continue reading