If you ’re concerned in buy a echt Soviet - epoch space shuttle , then be prepared to puzzle out the mystery of a Kazakh hero ’s skull .
An ongoing feud over the luck of a Buran - social class orbiter took a surreal turn recently when the Kazakh businessman who claims to own the blank shuttle said he was interested in trade the Soviet - era artefact with Russian self-assurance in exchange for the skull of the last Kazakh Khan , aka Kenesary Kasymov , a 19th - century Kazakh freeing fighter who went toe - to - toe with the Russian Empire .
Dauren Mussa , a Kazakh entrepreneur , late spoke to the Russian - language newspaperCaravanregarding the Burya orbiter and how its story has become intertwined with the mystery of Kazakh Khan ’s skull .
The Buran - class orbiter was a reusable spacecraft designed by the USSR during the 1980s , plan to be a rival to — orarguably a copycatof — NASA ’s Space Shuttle . While a fistful of the experimental spacecraft were built , the Buran program only had a exclusive successful test flying , fill out on November 15 , 1988 . Just one yr after this success , the Berlin wall fell and the dissolution of the Soviet Union quickly followed , meaning mellow - risk place exploration was not top of the agenda . The programme was eventually canned and the vehicle place unused in a decrypted hanger at the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan for years . In 2002 , the hanger ceiling collapsed and the prized spacecraft was destroyed .
Another model of the Buran satellite , called Burya , which never image a trial flight , still persist entire inKazakhstan , quietly gathering dustand graffitiin another hanger at the Kazakhstan - basedBaikonur cosmodrome . According to Mussa , he fell into his self-command of the spacecraft some 20 years ago and decided to keep wait of the keepsake to prevent it from being sold for scrap metal .
Mussa says that the Russian space agency Roscosmos has been extremely keen to have the Burya back in their self-command as a subject of superbia , especially since 2021 saw the sixtieth anniversary ofYuri Gargarinbecoming the first human to travel to space . Mussa explained he would happily propose the Buran - socio-economic class orbiter to the Russians , but only in yield for Kasymov ’s skull .
Much like the clay of the Soviet - era spacecraft , Kasymov ’s skull is a source of national pride across the border in Kazakhstan . Kasymov was decapitated 1847 and the remains have remained in Russia since . This has long been an outcome for proud Kazakhs who see the skull as a symbolisation of their national identity and independence from Russia . Back in July , former Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev met with Russian President Vladimir Putin andasked whether Russiacould give the severed head of the nineteenth - century sacking fighter to Kazakhstan . This move stirred the old argumentation once more .
“ That the nous of our khan should become a museum showing in a foreign state would be a disgrace for the Kazakhs , ” Zhasulan Musin , a resident of Nur - Sultan , the chapiter city of Kazakhstan , toldEurasiaNet . “ We need to return the remains at all costs and bury them with honors , so that Kenesary ’s somebody may find peace . ”
There ’s just one major problem : the skull ’s whereabouts are not known . Some suspect the head is store deep in the archives of one of two museum in Saint Petersburg , but both museums have denied this . Who knows how this diplomatical gridlock will resolve , but it certainly seems like Russia and Kazakhstan will cover to lose their prized possessions for some time to derive .
[ H / T : Ars Technica ]
