Buran USSR Space Shuttle in Winter

Borrowing from my car (and other vehicle-) spotting blog this entry about the Buran the USSR space shuttle photographed by me last winter (2014) at the VDNKh, a well known facility in north Moscow.

Here it is.

I suspect it's a replica, or a mock-up (some parts maybe genuine though).

All-white... it's white in the skies, it's white on the ground.

Buran landing gear.

Nose section up close.

Under the belly.

Tail section.

Vostok spaceship....I think it used to be a functioning Vostok rocket but now is a kind of monument.

Mounted police. 

At Moscow's All-Russia Exhibition Center

A walk through the All-Russia Exhibition Center aka the Exhibition of Achievements of the People's Economy (VDNKh) on a snowy winter day of Jan 25, 2014.

Getting there by Moscow Monorail -- here I am at a Moscow Monorail station on the way to VDNKh. The Moscow Monorail is an elevated city train system.

Lots of GAZelle and other trucks seen through the monorail train carriage window.

A see-through lift garage.

Tow trucks known as "crocodiles" on account of they're green. They tow your car if you park it in the wrong place. There's currently a war ongoing between them and Moscow's motorists. Being a some-time motorist myself, I almost feel like throwing a Molotov cocktail at them. They are the brain child of Moscow's current deranged mayor.

Central entrance to the VDNKh exhibition... we are going through it.

Some penguin figures... may be representing some cartoon characters, I don't know. 

Along the central alley.

More penguin characters.

Central pavilion.