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Correspondence
I sent a letter to KBKhA, manufacturer of the RD-0120 rocket engine, asking if they have any engines left over and if they retained tooling. I received a response on October 31, 2003. That response was in English, you can read it here.
In December, 2000, I contacted RSC Energia in Moscow to try to confirm the capacity and cost for their Energia rocket. I received the response in February, 2001. You can read my letter, their response in Russian, and my translation of their response in English.
Russian mission plan
The response from RSC Energia also included two articles published in the Russian press about their development for a manned mission to Mars. They were both sent as JPG image files. The first is written in both Russian and English, but the second is in Russian alone. My translation is a bit rough, but it does contain useful information. They include a food factory in their mission plan.
First article: page 1, page 2, page 3, page 4.
Second article in Russian: page 1, page 2.
Second article in English: page 1, page 2.
RSC Energia has now published their mission plan on their web site, and current status. Russian mission plan
Pictures of Baikonur
I found a web site from a group that toured the Baikonur cosmodrome. This includes pictures of the Buran space shuttle, and the inside of the MIK vehicle assembly building. This shows the Buran space shuttle and several Energia rockets were fully intact at the time of the tour, April 1997. Click an image to see a larger picture.
The last row of pictures were taken this year. The first shows the Buran orbiter mounted on the Energia launch stack in building 112, which is the MIK vehicle assembly building.
The Buran orbiter was moved because building 254, also known as the orbiter processing building, has been used to support ISS operations.
The news article announced that on Sunday, May 12, an accident caused the roof to collapse. This will not affect ISS operations; however, it is a major blow for hopes of an affordable mission to Mars.
The latest news article is from Aviation Now.
Previous articles were published by Space.com and BBC.
News of the incident is also available (in Russian) from the Russian Aviation-Space Agency
and the Russian news service NTV.
Pictures were taken August 2011. Ptichka is still kept in storage in building MZK. However, it is showing degredation.
Pictures available here.
 2 Energia core stages in the MIK building. |
 Top cones for strap-on boosters. |
 A whole Energia rocket. |
 Rear of the rocket showing engines. |
 A strap-on booster with engines removed. |
 Side view of the Energia transporter. |
 Buran space shuttle orbiter. |
 Buran and Energia at its launch in 1987. |
 External view of the MIK building. |
 Energia, Proton, and Soyuz launch facilities. |
 250-LC Energia test stand / launch pad #3. |
 110-LC N1 / Energia launch pad #1. |
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 Energia and Buran April 25, 2002 |
 MIK building inside after May 12, 2002 |
 MIK building outside after May 12, 2002 |
 remains of Energia after May 12, 2002 |
 Ptichka 2005 |
 Ptichka 2005 |

Links

Information on rockets and spacecraft from all countries.
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Energia: manufacturer of the Energia rocket
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Molniya: manufacturer of the Buran space shuttle orbiter
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Russian Federal Space Agency
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KBKhA: manufacturer of the RD-0120 engine
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