Shuttle Ptichka

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Space Shuttles
US Space Shuttle program Enterprise (atmospheric tests) Pathfinder (ground facilities tests) Columbia (destroyed 2003) Challenger (destroyed 1986) Discovery (active) Atlantis (active) Endeavour (grounded for maintenance) Explorer (replica for museum display)
Soviet Shuttle Buran program Buran (retired, damaged) Ptichka (completed, unused) 2.01 (unfinished) 2.02 (dismantled) 2.03 (dismantled)

Ptichka ("Птичка" meaning "little bird" in Russian) is an informal nickname for the space shuttle orbiters that were created by the Soviet Union; the name is also often used to refer to the second of the five Soviet space shuttles, a shuttle which was not given an official name. This particular shuttle is distinguisable from the others because of a red framework attached to its roof. However, the formal theme for the whole orbiter project was "Stormy Weather" and "Burya" ("Буря" meaning "tempest" in Russian) was mentioned as a likely name for the spacecraft.

Construction of the second orbiter started in 1988, and although the orbiter was closest to being completed of any of the Buran shuttles (after the Buran 1.01), it was never finished. The program was officially canceled in 1993. Its first launch was scheduled for 1992, and was to be a seven-eight day unmanned flight to the Mir Space Station. The Ptichka shuttle is now being auctioned at US$ 4-50 million per craft; Buran, the sole space-flown shuttle, was badly damaged in the collapse of a hangar roof in 2002.

Two orbiters in good condition are currently exhibited to the public: one test unit at Gorky Park (Moscow) and one flying version, which will be exhibited in Sinsheim Auto & Technik Museum, Germany.

A 1:8 scale model built for aerodynamic tests can be bought from NPO Molniya in Moscow. One full-size model can be found in the test zone of Baikonur Cosmodrome.

Ptichka is currently the property of Kazakhstan, at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, in the MIK Building.

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