The Explorers' Club, № MCXXIII

Operation AXIOM: The Space Age—The 40th Anniversary of the Buran, Prelude
10 November 1985-15 April 1988: The O.K.-G.L.I. test vehicle (A.K.A. the Buran Analog B.T.S.-02) conducted twenty-five test flights, piloted by Rimantas Stankevičius & Igor Volk, Anatoly Levchenko & Alexandr Shchukin, & Ivan Buchurin & Alexei Borodai; the O.K.-G.L.I. was fitted with four jet engines for taking off & climbing to altitude before gliding back to the ground as the Buran spaceplane would.

Commentary: Most episodes about Soviet spaceflight will continue to follow the fiftieth anniversary track (Soyuz capsules & Salyut space stations), but since the Buran was the Soviet answer to the Space Shuttle, it seemed more fitting to follow the Shuttle's fortieth anniversary track.

The Buran O.K.-G.L.I.'s 1985-1988 flights were the equivalent of the Space Shuttle Enterprise's 1977 Approach & Landing Tests: "The Explorers' Club," № DCCCVIII.

Bonus! Space Age Song o' the Day: Buran Test Flights
Robbie Williams, "Straighten Up and Fly Right" from Swings Both Ways (Space Cadet Mike Papa Whiskey)

Semper exploro.