No, it's not a Zeppelin airship. It’s a heavy transport aircraft called ‘Atlant’. And, in this photo, it’s carrying a giant tank for the ‘Energia’ launch vehicle.
The photo was taken in 1981. Since the mid-1970s, the USSR had been developing the super-heavy ‘Energia’ launch vehicle and the ‘Buran’ spacecraft.
But, the question arose: how to deliver huge components for these spacecraft to the Baikonur Cosmodrome, thousands of kilometers from the factories?
There was simply no equipment that would have transported them by land. However, there were heavy transport planes.
‘Atlant’ is the brainchild of the ‘Myasishchev’ Design Bureau. In fact, to transport such space components as mentioned above, the bureau modified the 3M-T strategic bomber.
Dear readers,
Our website and social media accounts are under threat of being restricted or banned, due to the current circumstances. So, to keep up with our latest content, simply do the following:
- Subscribe to our Telegram channel
- Subscribe to our weekly email newsletter
- Enable push notifications on our website
- Install a VPN service on your computer and/or phone to have access to our website, even if it is blocked in your country