Plane / Planes / Aircraft / Aeroplane / Airplane appreciation

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Emyr in reply to @rodan

a me-too Space Shuttle clone.

Hardly.

The automated landing took place on a runway at 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.[10] 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."

(link)

Was ISS a me-too MIR clone?

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rodan in reply to @Emyr

Hardly

Really? I don't think it's controversial to say that Buran was built directly as a result of Soviet concerns that the U.S. Space Shuttle was a weapons system, and they couldn't afford to be seen to be left behind.

Are the near-identical dimensions, outlines and aerodynamics a coincidence? Or did the Soviets copy what they could and reverse-engineer the rest, building something they had no real need for in order to save face? It's not as if that's not a common thread running through much of the Cold War.

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