Today in Space History - A Snowstorm That Landed Itself 🚀

Stardate 1451.3940 (NOVEMBER 15, 1988)

Before dawn over the steppe, Energia carried an empty Buran away from Baikonur. The sequence ran itself. The orbiter separated, circled Earth twice, and set its own course for the runway it had left that morning.

It touched down at 06:24 UTC in a strong crosswind, within a few metres of the aim point, and rolled to a stop a minute later. No crew had flown. It was the first spaceplane to leave Earth and return under fully automatic control. The flight was never repeated, yet the landing still stands as a quiet proof of what the machine could do alone.