Originally posted by Boroda
LOL!!!
Buran didn't have ceramic tiles!
Are you so sure about that? I mean, really, really, really sure? 100% positive on that?
According to the Molniya Research and Industrial Corp. web site, the Buran used three different kinds of thermal protection.
1. Carbon-Carbon
2. Ceramic Tiles
3. Flexible Material
It used 40,000 ceramic tiles, each one of them unique.
And if you're still thinking that the Soviets came up with this as some original idea, here's something to look at.
While there are some differences between both shuttles, it's obvious that the Buran's design was based upon the US shuttle, which should be pretty obvious since the Soviets have admitted to 'borrowing' the blueprints of the US shuttle. But you are technically correct that it isn't a copy since the Soviets had made improvements to the US design and incorperated these improvements in their own shuttle.
Ack-Ack