Anatolii Levchenko
Anatoly Semyonovich Levchenko was a Soviet test pilot and cosmonaut associated with the Buran program. His short Mir flight was designed to give a future Buran direct orbital experience.
- Born
- May 5, 1941
- Died
- August 6, 1988
- Birthplace
- Krasnokutsk, Kharkiv Oblast,Soviet Union
Flights
1
Spacewalks
N/A
EVA time
N/A
In space
7 days, 21 hours, 58 minutes
Bio
Levchenko trained as a test pilot and was selected for cosmonaut training in 1980. He worked with Buran-related flight preparation, including testing with the OK-GLI atmospheric test vehicle, the Soviet shuttle's approach-and-landing counterpart.
In December 1987 he launched aboard Soyuz TM-4, visited Mir, and returned aboard Soyuz TM-3 after about a week. The flight is often listed as Mir LII-1, reflecting its connection to the Gromov Flight Research Institute and Buran preparation.
Levchenko died from a brain tumor in Moscow on August 6, 1988, less than a year after his spaceflight. His career is a brief but important bridge between Soviet orbital-station work and the planned Buran crewed shuttle program.