Buran model 1:50

The model was made in the design bureau for demonstrations and meetings. Its distinctive feature is the exact layout of more than thirty-eight thousand thermal tiles, each of which on the real ship had an individual shape and number. The model makes it easy to explain why Buran could not be a mere copy of the Shuttle: a different engine arrangement, a different ascent profile and fully automatic landing demanded different aerodynamics and centre of gravity. On display in a case beside a sample of a real thermal tile that visitors may pick up.