alt Hacker NewsIn the 90s, NASA refurbished and extensively modified a mothballed supersonic Soviet-era Tu-144. The modifications included fitting different (Tupolev) engines. The total cost was $350M. It was used as a flying laboratory.
In the 90s, NASA refurbished and extensively modified a mothballed supersonic Soviet-era Tu-144. The modifications included fitting different (Tupolev) engines. The total cost was $350M. It was used as a flying laboratory.
Guessing this project was also a way to pay Russian engineers while the Soviet Union collapsed with the goal to do "technology transfer" and prevent them from working for NK and the like as a way to make ends meet.