Soviet space shuttle chugs up the Rhine

BERLIN (Reuters) - Three Rhine barges are hauling a former Soviet space shuttle on a roughly 600 km (375 miles) journey up the river to a museum in western Germany because the spacecraft is too unwieldy to be transported in any other way.

The sight of the 36 meter-long, black and white shuttle, which weighs nearly 100 tonnes, contrasts with the usual pleasure boats which cruise up and down Germany's longest river.

Buran, on its way to the Technical Museum in the city of Speyer, started its barge journey in the Dutch port of Rotterdam and crossed the border into Germany on Monday.

"We are going to be on the river the whole week and will arrive in Speyer on Saturday," museum director Hermann Layher told Reuters Television.

Authorities are worried that the shuttle, which looks similar to U.S. space shuttles, might have trouble navigating the Rhine's narrow and treacherous bends further upstream and could even run into trouble with low bridges.

The Buran, or "Blizzard" program, launched an unmanned space shuttle into orbit in 1988 before it was scrapped due to a funding crisis. The spacecraft on its way to Speyer, which is a test shuttle used in the program, was on show in Sydney during the 2000 Olympic Games.

"We've been pursuing the shuttle for seven years," said Layher. "Now we're pleased and hope no more problems occur." (Reporting by Madeline Chambers; Editing by Ibon Villelabeitia)