The Russkis didn't have to reverse-engineer this part of the space race: They designed it with plans published by NASA's unclassified civilian space program, then tricked it up with an innovative remote-control system for unmanned flights and turbojet engines that allow the craft to take off and land at any airport. Moscow built five of these Buran ("snowstorm" in Russian) shuttles, but only one blasted into the Great Beyond, flying an unmanned Earth-orbit mission in 1988.
The shuttle worked fine, but the Soviet Union didn't, and economics grounded the fleet for good in 1993. David Hammer, an Australian businessman, leased this Buran for an undisclosed price last year and shipped it to a pier in Sydney's Darling Harbor. Hammer opened the doors to the public in September, inviting all to check out the cockpit, crew quarters, and rockets, and "even knock on the tiles, if you want to."
ELECTRIC WORD
Shadow Warrior
New Maeda
Ticker Transplant
Sonic Room
Open Shuttle
Capturing Eyeballs
