Buran Buran
There were two space shuttles, and while they look remarkably similar, and are only a few centimeters different in size, the launch vehicles are quite different, as are their purpose: Buran was designed as a military weapon, to deliver bombs from varying orbits with little chance of defensive intercept.
In several ways, the Russian Buran may have been a safer design than the shuttle. It did its first (and only) test flight autonomously, putting no astronauts at risk. It used only liquid fuel (no segmented solid boosters with their o-rings). And it provided an escape system for all of the astronauts on board. In contrast, the U.S. Space Shuttle, from STS-5 onward had no escape mechanism for the astronauts at the pad or during launch, a unique feature of that program.
The Russian space shuttle program was the largest and most expensive in Soviet space exploration history.
The purpose of the vehicle was classified, but in a recent interview, cosmonaut Oleg Kotov spoke openly:
“It was originally designed as a military system for weapon delivery, maybe even nuclear weapons. A shuttle is particularly useful for this because it can change its orbit and trajectory – so an attack from it is almost impossible to protect against. But the need for such military applications ended.”
Here are more photos of the ejection mechanism and testing as well as a collection of photos from the glory days of Buran’s first flight: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jurvetson/8320474808/#comment72157632371247884
And a detailed diagram of the Buran shuttle itself:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jurvetson/8323806287
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