What was once the gleaming pride and joy of the Soviet space program now lies covered in dirt and bird droppings in a disused hangar in Kazakhstan.
With their broken windows, missing tiles and ransacked interiors, these shuttles are a haunting -- and fascinating -- piece of space history, rarely seen by the outside world.
Indeed, when 36-year-old Russian photographer Ralph Mirebs discovered the derelict shuttles and rocket at Baikonur Cosmodrome, he was touched by the sad end for these "wonderful winged machines."
In another lifetime, these prototypes are thought to have been part of the Soviets' Buran Program, which began in 1974 and was discontinued in 1993.
For Mirebs, a lecturer in computer programming and longtime space enthusiast, it was the discovery of a lifetime.
We spoke to the urban explorer about his remarkable find.