Buran (BTS-002)

The orbital Buran lands without engines — gliding, on a single attempt. To develop that profile the BTS-002 was built with four AL-31 engines: it took off by itself, climbed and repeated the steep approach trajectory. Between 1985 and 1988 it made 24 flights, some fully automatic. The data allowed the single orbital flight of Buran on 15 November 1988 to end with an automatic landing at Baikonur in a crosswind — a result without parallel at the time. On display is the BTS-002 airframe with its thermal protection tiles and crew cabin preserved.