Kazakhstan 500 Tenge Silver Coin 2015 Buran - The Soviet Space Shuttle
Series Space Coins - Buran - The Soviet Space Shuttle
«Buran» is the orbital space plane of the Soviet reusable transport space system created within the Energy-Buran program. On November 15, 1988 «Buran» made its first and only space flight in the pilotless mode. The fact of the flight of spacecraft in space and its descent to Earth in the automatic mode under control of the on-board computer was included into the Guinness Book of Records. The spaceship was started from Baikonur Spaceport with the support of rocket «Energy».
Obverse: the composition symbolized the unity of human being with the world and the connection between the past and present; the face value of the coin "500 ТЕҢГЕ"; trade mark of Kazakhstan Mint; the inscription of «Ag 925 14.6 g. Та 26.8 g. » defining the metal which the coin is made of, its fineness and weight; two inscriptions "ҚАЗАҚСТАН РЕСПУБЛИКАСЫ" in Kazakh and "REPUBLIC OF KAZAKHSTAN" in English.
Reverse: the image of space plane «Buran» in a process of exit to Earth orbit and year of coinage «2014»; inscriptions «БУРАН» in state language and «BURAN» in English.
Bi-colored (composite) coin has the round form consisted of the concentric situated ring and disk. The internal disk of coin is made of tantalum, with application of technology of changing color on golden, an external ring from silver.
Face value: 500 Tenge.
Date of issue: 28 January, 2015.
Lateral surface is grooved.
Fineness: Ag 925 14.6 ± 0.15 r/g Ta 999-26.8 ± 0.25 r/g.
Weight: 41.4 g.
Diameter: 38.61 mm.
Quality: proof.
Mintage: 3000.
Series Space Coins
Kazakhstan 500 Tenge Silver Coin 2015 Buran - The Soviet Space Shuttle
Buran
Buran (Russian: Бура́н, Snowstorm or Blizzard) was the first spaceplane to be produced as part of the Soviet/Russian Buran programme. It carried the GRAU index serial number 11F35 K1 and is – depending on the source – also known as OK-1K1, Orbiter K1, OK 1.01 or Shuttle 1.01. Besides describing the first operational Soviet/Russian shuttle orbiter, "Buran" was also the designation for the whole Soviet/Russian space shuttle project.
OK-1K1 completed one unmanned spaceflight in 1988, and was destroyed in 2002 when the hangar it was stored in collapsed. It remains the only Soviet reusable spacecraft to be launched into space. The Buran-class orbiters used the expendable Energia rocket, a class of super heavy-lift launch vehicle.
The construction of the Buran-class space shuttle orbiters began in 1980, and by 1984 the first full-scale orbiter was rolled out. Construction of a second orbiter (OK-1K2, informally known as "Ptichka") started in 1988. The Buran programme was officially cancelled in 1993.
Operational history:
Orbital flight
The only orbital launch of a Buran-class orbiter occurred at 03:00:02 UTC on 15 November 1988 from Baikonur Cosmodrome launch pad 110/37. OK-1K1 was lifted into space, on an unmanned mission, by the specially designed Energia rocket. The automated launch sequence performed as specified, and the Energia rocket lifted the vehicle into a temporary orbit before the orbiter separated as programmed. After boosting itself to a higher orbit and completing two orbits around the Earth, the ODU (engine control system) engines fired automatically to begin the descent into the atmosphere, return to the launch site, and horizontal landing on a runway.
Exactly 206 minutes into the mission, Orbiter OK-1K1 landed, having lost only eight of its 38,000 thermal tiles over the course of the flight. The automated landing took place on the Yubileyniy airfield runway at Site 251 in Baikonur Cosmodrome where, despite a lateral wind speed of 61.2 kilometres per hour (38.0 mph), it landed only 3 metres (9.8 ft) laterally and 10 metres (33 ft) longitudinally from the target mark. Specifically, as Buran approached Baikonur Cosmodrome and started landing, spacecraft sensors detected the strong crosswind and "the robotic system sent the huge machine for another rectangular traffic pattern approach, successfully landing the spacecraft on a second try." It was the first space shuttle to perform an unmanned flight, including landing in fully automatic mode.
Projected flights
In 1989, it was projected that OK-1K1 would have an unmanned second flight by 1993, with a duration of 15–20 days. Because the Buran programme was cancelled after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, this never took place.
Destruction
On 12 May 2002, the MIK 112 hangar at the Baikonur Cosmodrome housing OK-1K1 collapsed, as a result of poor maintenance, during a massive storm in Kazakhstan. The collapse killed eight workers and destroyed the craft as well as an Energia carrier rocket.