"Joseph S. Powell, III" wrote in message
...

"Rod Stevenson" wrote in message
...
Thanks for the info. I have seen the info Energia as the Buran/Poyus
launcher. However it seemed that this launch vehicle was dead as a
project
and also half the size of the mentioned vehicle. Dr Martynov said that
they
had been working on the plans for the past 20 years and were at present
carrying out engine tests.
Possibley he was just shooting a line at some stupid Brits but he is at
the
centre of developments at S.P.Korolev Rocket and Space Corporation
Energia.

Rod Stevenson



Well, in addition to the single, unmanned Buran flight (and the Polyus
death-star test), wasn't Energia used to launch the segments of the

now-defunct-killing-teenage-American-girls-with-it's-toilet-seats-upon-reent
ry Mir?


I'm very sorry to hear about that episode, JSP. It's entirely new to me; I
was unaware that anyone was killed by any part of the MIR on re-entry. In
fact I thought that to date nobody at all had been killed or even injured by
falling satellite debris.
Through the success of it's design and it's longevity the MIR was a great
deal more successful than the ISS has been to date, even despite the
numerous problems which it's crews had to handle. I fear the ISS may never
even be completed if major changes are confirmed in the exploration plans of
NASA.
It's good though that the reliable old Soyuz capsules are available to bail
out the Shuttle.
How many were killed in the incident you mention please?

Eric Fenby.