Editing Buran programme (section)

==== Spaceflight of A. S. Levchenko ====

[[Anatoli Levchenko]] was planned to be the back-up commander of the first crewed Buran flight, and in March 1987 he began extensive training for his Soyuz spaceflight.{{sfn|Hendrickx|Vis|2007}} In December 1987, he occupied the third seat aboard [[Soyuz TM-4]] to Mir, and returned to Earth about a week later on [[Soyuz TM-3]]. His mission is sometimes called ''Mir LII-1'', after the [[Gromov Flight Research Institute]] shorthand.<ref name="EA-LII">{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.astronautix.com/flights/mirlii1.htm |title=Mir LII-1 |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopedia Astronautica]] |first=Mark |last=Wade |access-date=15 November 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101130020104/http://astronautix.com/flights/mirlii1.htm |archive-date=30 November 2010}}</ref> When Levchenko died the following year, it left the back-up crew of the first Buran mission again without spaceflight experience. A Soyuz spaceflight for another potential back-up commander was sought by the Gromov Flight Research Institute, but never occurred.{{sfn|Hendrickx|Vis|2007}}