In order to compete with the U.S. Space Shuttle program the Soviets began their own reusable spacecraft program in 1974 under the name Buran. The program lasted a full 19 years before its cancellation in 1993. The Buran spacecraft never saw manned spaceflight and completed only one orbital flight on November 15 1988.While a very successful flight the shuttle never flew again and was eventually destroyed in a 2002 hangar collapse. It is shown here carried on the back of the Antonov An-225 the largest fixed-wing aircraft in the world. Similar to the U.S. Shuttle/Boeing 747 arrangement the An-225 was used to ferry Buran models around various sites in the Soviet Union. Despite the program`s failure the Buran project remains a popular topic among both spaceflight enthusiasts and current aerospace professionals