"Bluuuue Rajah" Bluuuuue@Rajah. wrote in message
. 17.102...

I didn't think the Buran ever flew. I thought it was just a showpiece so
they could boast that they were keeping up with the west, much like the
latest moonshot plans.

One unmanned flight, apparently successful:

From .http://www.russianspaceweb.com/buran.html
"1988 Nov. 15: 06:00:02 Moscow Time: The Energia super booster carrying an
unmanned Buran reusable shuttle blasted off from Baikonur. 206 minutes or
two orbits later, the Buran automatically landed at the Yubileiniy airfield
at Site 251 in Baikonur."

Vaughn