Parts of the Space Shuttle: The Anatomy of an Orbiter
Astronauts had to use the same space to exercise, sleep, eat and carry out their mission. What would you have included in a reusable space vehicle?
[Text: Anatomy of an Orbiter]
BETH: The body of a space shuttle orbiter is about the size of a small jet airliner. But only part of that was livable for the astronauts. Marty got to visit the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio where one of the shuttle crew trainers is located. And we both got to check out the fuselage trainer at the Museum of Flight in Seattle. It wasn't until we were standing inside that we realized there's not as much room as you think.
DR. DOUG LANTRY: What we're looking at right behind me here is what we call the CCT or Crew Compartment Trainer. It's what all space shuttle astronauts use to train in before their space missions.
MARTY: Why is training like this so important for an astronaut?
DR. LANTRY: Well, it's important mostly because you don't get the chance to do anything over. Time is crucial. Schedules are tight. Equipment is expensive. And so it's really important to get it right the first time.
BETH: The orbiter can easily be divided into three main sections. The forward fuselage. The mid-fuselage. And the aft fuselage. In the forward fuselage is the flight deck. Here the commander and pilot control the flight maneuvers of the vehicle.
Directly behind these controls is the aft flight deck. This is where mission specialists execute maneuvers for rendezvous and docking. Windows into the payload bay are used to monitor satellite deployment and retrieval. Both stations are within arms reach of each other, just a few feet apart.
MARTY: How accurate of a recreation is this to the actual space shuttle?
DR. LANTRY: It's exactly like a space shuttle in terms of where the instruments are located and how some things work and so on. But in other ways it's not. The instruments don't actually have an effect on anything. The vehicle doesn't go anywhere. And the outside of it is made of plywood.
MARTY: How many hours would an astronaut spend training in a simulator like this before they went into space?
DR. LANTRY: Oh, they'd spend 400 to 500 hours in the CCT. Some astronauts estimated that for every hour of mission time they would spend 10 hours in training. And it's, really, for such a big vehicle, the living space in a space shuttle is actually pretty small.
BETH: Directly beneath the flight deck is the mid-deck. Stowage lockers are used to store the flight crew's personal gear, equipment, and experiments. The aft fuselage contains the vehicle's engines and maneuvering systems.
The mid-fuselage contains the payload bay, a massive space located in the center of the shuttle used to transport things to and from space. These doors are 60 feet long. That's as long as a bowling lane! Because they open while in orbit, this section was separated from the crew quarters.
I'm joined by NASA astronaut, Paul Richards. You actually flew on Discovery. Do you want to tell us a little bit about that flight?
PAUL: Sure. It was STS-102. We delivered 12,000 pounds of gear in the first Italian module, Leonardo. And brought 9,000 pounds of gear home.
BETH: Some of the payloads the shuttles deployed have changed the way we view our solar system. Like the Magellan probe, launched from Space Shuttle Atlantis to investigate other planets. But none has quite captured humans' curiosity and changed our understanding of the universe more than the Hubble Space Telescope.
Are there any parts that are missing from the shuttle? What would you have included in a reusable space vehicle? Let us know in the comments section. And if you like this video, be sure to follow STEM in 30 on Facebook [facebook.com/STEMin30] and Twitter [@STEMin30]. And subscribe to the National Air and Space Museum's YouTube channel [@airandspace].
[Text: This program made possible through a generous grant from Boeing. This program is a presentation of the National Air and Space Museum. Programs like this, and all the Museum does to share and preserve air and space history, are made possible through the generous support of people like you. Thank you for joining us.]
BETH: The body of a space shuttle orbiter is about the size of a small jet airliner. But only part of that was livable for the astronauts. Marty got to visit the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio where one of the shuttle crew trainers is located. And we both got to check out the fuselage trainer at the Museum of Flight in Seattle. It wasn't until we were standing inside that we realized there's not as much room as you think.
DR. DOUG LANTRY: What we're looking at right behind me here is what we call the CCT or Crew Compartment Trainer. It's what all space shuttle astronauts use to train in before their space missions.
MARTY: Why is training like this so important for an astronaut?
DR. LANTRY: Well, it's important mostly because you don't get the chance to do anything over. Time is crucial. Schedules are tight. Equipment is expensive. And so it's really important to get it right the first time.
BETH: The orbiter can easily be divided into three main sections. The forward fuselage. The mid-fuselage. And the aft fuselage. In the forward fuselage is the flight deck. Here the commander and pilot control the flight maneuvers of the vehicle.
Directly behind these controls is the aft flight deck. This is where mission specialists execute maneuvers for rendezvous and docking. Windows into the payload bay are used to monitor satellite deployment and retrieval. Both stations are within arms reach of each other, just a few feet apart.
MARTY: How accurate of a recreation is this to the actual space shuttle?
DR. LANTRY: It's exactly like a space shuttle in terms of where the instruments are located and how some things work and so on. But in other ways it's not. The instruments don't actually have an effect on anything. The vehicle doesn't go anywhere. And the outside of it is made of plywood.
MARTY: How many hours would an astronaut spend training in a simulator like this before they went into space?
DR. LANTRY: Oh, they'd spend 400 to 500 hours in the CCT. Some astronauts estimated that for every hour of mission time they would spend 10 hours in training. And it's, really, for such a big vehicle, the living space in a space shuttle is actually pretty small.
BETH: Directly beneath the flight deck is the mid-deck. Stowage lockers are used to store the flight crew's personal gear, equipment, and experiments. The aft fuselage contains the vehicle's engines and maneuvering systems.
The mid-fuselage contains the payload bay, a massive space located in the center of the shuttle used to transport things to and from space. These doors are 60 feet long. That's as long as a bowling lane! Because they open while in orbit, this section was separated from the crew quarters.
I'm joined by NASA astronaut, Paul Richards. You actually flew on Discovery. Do you want to tell us a little bit about that flight?
PAUL: Sure. It was STS-102. We delivered 12,000 pounds of gear in the first Italian module, Leonardo. And brought 9,000 pounds of gear home.
BETH: Some of the payloads the shuttles deployed have changed the way we view our solar system. Like the Magellan probe, launched from Space Shuttle Atlantis to investigate other planets. But none has quite captured humans' curiosity and changed our understanding of the universe more than the Hubble Space Telescope.
Are there any parts that are missing from the shuttle? What would you have included in a reusable space vehicle? Let us know in the comments section. And if you like this video, be sure to follow STEM in 30 on Facebook [facebook.com/STEMin30] and Twitter [@STEMin30]. And subscribe to the National Air and Space Museum's YouTube channel [@airandspace].
[Text: This program made possible through a generous grant from Boeing. This program is a presentation of the National Air and Space Museum. Programs like this, and all the Museum does to share and preserve air and space history, are made possible through the generous support of people like you. Thank you for joining us.]