The Antonov An-225 Mriya was designed and built in the 1980s, with its first flight taking place in 1988. The plane was built by the Antonov State Company in what is now Ukraine, but back then was still the Soviet Union. When it was built, the plane was the size of a football field in both length and wingspan. It could also carry more weight than any other aircraft, with a maximum of 1.32 million pounds, according to Air Charter Service. This was all powered by six engines that were capable of producing over 300,000 pounds of thrust between them. The landing gear was also more substantial than the stuff you’d find on a regular plane. The Mriya had 32 wheels in total, 20 of which were “steerable.”
Its original job was to transport the Soviet Space Program’s shuttle. The West first saw it when it landed at the 1989 Paris Air show with a Buran spaceplane strapped to its back. There was also a suggestion that a shuttle could be launched from its back, which take much of the work out of getting into space.
Two of the aircraft were originally supposed to be built, but after the An-225 Mriya’s sister plane was left, still unfinished, in 2009, the project was abandoned. Almost a decade and a half later, and following the destruction of the first, the world might be getting another Mriya.
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