Russia's secret space shuttles have been sitting in plain sight for 22 years

Ralph Mirebs

In 1974, Russia launched its largest, most expensive project in space exploration history.

The stars of the project, called the Buran program, were its space shuttles, which were built in secret from designs the Soviet secret police stole from NASA.

The Soviets invested anywhere from tens of millions to billions on the project, which was terminated in 1993. The sites where the shuttles were laid to rest have since been completely abandoned.

Photographer Ralph Mirebs recently visited one of these dust-ridden graveyards and chronicled the journey on his LiveJournal blog, where you can see the full collection.