Anatoly Semyonovich Levchenko (; May 5, 1941 – August 6, 1988) was a Soviet cosmonaut in the Buran programme. Trained as a test pilot and selected as a cosmonaut on 12 July 1980, Levchenko was planned to be the back-up commander of the first Buran space shuttle flight. As part of his preparations, he also accomplished test-flights with Buran's counterpart OK-GLI aircraft. In March 1987, Levchenko began extensive training for a Soyuz spaceflight, intended to give him some experience in space. In December 1987, he occupied the third seat aboard the spacecraft Soyuz TM-4 to the space station 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. In the year following his spaceflight, Anatoly Levchenko died of a brain tumor, in the Nikolay Burdenko Neurosurgical Institute in Moscow. He was married with one child. Awards He was awarded the titles of Hero of the Soviet Union and Pilot-Cosmonaut of the USSR and the Order of Lenin. Commemoration Anatoly Levchenko is buried at the Bykovskoye Memorial Cemetery in Zhukovsky. There is a memorial plate with his image installed on the wall of house 2 at Chkalova Street where Anatoly once lived in Zhukovsky. See also List of notable brain tumor patients References 1941 births 1988 deaths People from Kharkiv Oblast Heroes of the Soviet Union Soviet Air Force officers Soviet cosmonauts Buran program Soviet test pilots Gromov Flight Research Institute employees Mir crew members