With all the news about the shuttle these days I thought I'd so some research on it this weekend. Some of the questions I looked up were -
1. Didn't Russia have a shuttle program?
Answer - Yes they did. It even flew in space and landed autonomously (without a human on board). Although they only did this one time because of budget constraints. Feel free to search for it under "Buran" or click the link I've inserted below.
2. If so what did they use for a heat shield?
Answer - Basically the same as the US counter parts. Keep reading.
3. What did they use as a propulsion system?
Answer - It's a long answer but they didn't install a huge engine on the shuttle like the US did, basically they relied soly on booster rockets. One interesting point I learned here is at the time they didn't know how to build solid rocket boosters like the US shuttles so they used the same technology from other rockets they built.
4. Could we borrow from their technology?
Answer - What for, they designed their shuttle from the blueprints of the US shuttle. For the most part the technology is the same with some improvements. If you're interested feel free to search for "Russian Shuttle" on google or click this link http://www.aerospaceweb.org/question/spacecraft/q0153.shtml
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