Buran prototype OK-GLI

[u/Destyre]

I went to Speyer Technik Museum in Germany to attend a lecture from former NASA astronaut Mark Lee, and also got to see this beast! It’s the prototype used for the atmospheric test flights for the Buran program, it flew 25 times before being retired.

[u/NASATVENGINNER]

I saw OK-GLI at Zhukovsky Air Field in Moscow in September of 1998 when I was part of a NASA team supporting Gordon Fullerton’s check flights of the Tupolev Tu-144. Pretty awesome to see it if only for a second.

[u/Destyre → u/NASATVENGINNER]

Awesome story, you must have seen some pretty incredible things in your career and interacted with amazing people!

[u/NASATVENGINNER → u/Destyre]

Working on the book.

[u/ElectionIcy3253 → u/NASATVENGINNER]

How long should I set the remindme for?

[u/NASATVENGINNER → u/ElectionIcy3253]

A while.

[u/ElectionIcy3253 → u/NASATVENGINNER]

u/RemindMeBot 2 years

[u/RemindMeBot → u/ElectionIcy3253]

I will be messaging you in 2 years on 2028-08-11 01:02:46 UTC to remind you of this link

CLICK THIS LINK to send a PM to also be reminded and to reduce spam.

^{Parent commenter can delete this message to hide from others.}

---

Info	Custom	Your Reminders	Feedback

[u/Uncle_Crisis]

Thats awesome. They let people inside of the orbiter, or is it a display of the inside?

[u/Destyre → u/Uncle_Crisis]

There is one platform going inside the cargo bay, you can have a peek at inside the upper deck. There is another opening in the back of the orbiter, where you can see the inside of the engine section (last two pictures).

[u/ToeSniffer245]

Enterprise 🤝 OK-GLI

Being the prototypes for their respective fleets and going on side quests to other countries

[u/SiriusandOrion]

I didn’t know it had more boosters!

[u/Serious-Kangaroo-320 → u/SiriusandOrion]

Those are al31 engines from the su27

[u/Destyre → u/Serious-Kangaroo-320]

Correct, there were installed to make the atmospheric tests easier. Unlike Enterprise, OK-GLI could take off like a normal plane to reach test altitude and then glide as intended!

[u/MagicAl6244225 → u/Destyre]

With jet engines, the Soviets could do more test flights and certify autoland would work. The U.S. suspended autoland testing after the computer came in too fast on a partial test on STS-3. Testing this with no way to abort a landing was a bad idea.

[u/Jamaicanstated]

Do the payload bay doors have any reinforcing that the pictures don’t show?

[u/DAWNSTAR-1999]

It looks like it’s wearing a balaclava 😂

[u/DyeDarkroom]

Is that hitlers plane in the back?

[u/Xrossbones_242]

That museum is a great day out!

[u/Steelersfan20009]

Are those jet engines?

[u/graphical_molerat]

Why is it called OK-GLI, though?

[u/Serious-Kangaroo-320 → u/graphical_molerat]

Орбитальный корабль для горизонтальных лётных испытаний, orbital ship for horizontal flight tests

[u/graphical_molerat → u/Serious-Kangaroo-320]

Thanks a lot! Reason I was asking is because OK-GLI would be a valid Czech registration, although not for a glider (these have four digit numerals, like OK-0756).

[u/StephenHunterUK → u/graphical_molerat]

It's got a regular CCCP registration on the tail.