They're so cool and some are just downright beautiful, especially the colors and shock diamonds
produced. The RS-25 is one of the most beautiful rocket engines ever made and one of my
favorites. The brief overexpanded gas pressure visualisation at the engine rim on startup and
the beautiful blue shock diamonds surrounded by almost clear exhaust makes it to look almost
magical. It also has a beautiful purr it makes Space Shuttle and SLS launches a treat to behold.
Similarly the Space Shuttle and her sister ship the Buran are some of the prettiest ships ever
flown, the space shuttle straining against the huge steel structure (1:29) holding it in
place immediately before launch is beautiful. Sadly the Buran is little documented and flew only
once. As opposed to the American Space Shuttle which had five flight worthy ships and one
testbed, the Buran Program had only one flight worthy ship "Buran" ever built with the second
ship "Ptichka" was never fully finished still sitting at 95% complete in a decaying warehouse.
Despite their similarities there are important differences including the very advanced robotic
landing computers abord the Buran, and the fact it didn't contain the engines for launch like the
space shuttle did, instead it was strapped to the side of the Energia heavy lift rocket. This meant
that engines had to be remade for each launch but also meant the Energia could launch other
payloads of similar mass to the entire Buran, not just to the shuttle's cargo bay. Sadly the
Energia would only complete two launches before the Soviet Union's collapse led to the project's
cancellation. Sadly Buran was heavily damaged in a roof collapse in 2002 and Ptichka sits still
unfinished in a near abandoned warehouse.