The Incredible Story Of The Enduring Space Shuttle - Part 2

The Incredible Story Of The Enduring Space Shuttle - Part 2

Introduction

So the Space shuttle post was getting a little longer so I shifted the rest of the topics here so that it is easy for you to conceive things. So here is the rest of the post.

Anatomy of Space Shuttle

I told the external shuttle last time. Here is the internal Shuttle:

1. Internal part

Let’s take the Forward fuselage first. It contains the crew compartment. This is the only pressurized area meaning that only here can astronauts live without a spacesuit. This is divided into three levels. The top one is the Flight Deck. It is where the crew sits and controls the orbiter to fly it. The left seat here is for the commander and the right one is for the pilot. In front of them is the control panel with one joystick on the side of each chair to control the RCS system. On the back are two more seats. There are more controls on the back too. And on the wall to which the controls are attached, two windows help the astronauts to look into the payload bay. There are two windows on the top of the controls too, that allow the astronauts to look into space. The front also has six windows. There is a hole in the floor that takes you to the second level which is the mid-deck. Below the hole are stairs. These are not used often as astronauts can float through. The mid-deck is where, the astronauts spend their time eating, sleeping and going to the washroom. There are lockers too, where the astronauts store their personal items. These are also used as places where sleeping bags(in which the astronauts sleep) can be hung. On the side of the lockers, is a cupboard-type place which can let a maximum of three astronauts sleep horizontally. On the other side of the lockers is the Galley which is a type of small kitchen where astronauts prepare food. If on one side of the stairs there are lockers, etc., then on the other side is the washroom known as the Waste Collection System. Behind the stairs is the airlock. This is where the astronauts wear their space suits and get ready to move into the payload or cargo bay. Behind the lockers is the avionics bay that has computers which help to control the shuttle orbiter. You can fit several seats in the mid-deck for launch and reentry. The shuttle normally had 7 astronauts. Four on the flight deck and three on the mid-deck. Below the mid-deck is the equipment bay. Here they store the system behind the washroom, the pumps, water tanks and more storage space. The mid-fuselage has the payload bay. Its doors need to open once in space as the inside of the doors contains radiator panels that keep heat controlled in the shuttle. The bay’s size is 18 m x 4.6 m. On the left is a robotic arm known as the Shuttle Remote Manipulator System (SRMS) or Canadarm. This is controlled by the controls in the flight deck at the back. It could hold payloads and put them into orbit or move around astronauts who come here using the airlock. Later shuttle missions had the airlock in the payload bay. Instead, this one was bigger and had a whole system called the Orbital Docking System (ODS). It had the airlock, the supporting truss structure that held the system in place. On top was the docking mechanism that helped the orbiter to dock with the ISS using the PMAs when deploying modules. As the orbiter did not have solar panels, it generated its electricity using a mechanism below the payload bay by combining the hydrogen and oxygen forming electricity and water. The aft fuselage had three RS-25 engines fitting inside the thrust structure. They got their liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen by pipes that brought fuel from the ET.

Journey of a shuttle mission

Space shuttles were launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. There were two launch places here, 39A & 39B. There was also a runway far from them where the mission had to end known as the Shuttle Landing Facility. 5 km from the launching areas was the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB). There were 3 Orbiter Processing Facilities (OBFs). If the shuttle did not land at the runway due to weather conditions it would land at the Edwards Air Force Base in California. The shuttle had to be brought back to the Kennedy space centre. For that, the orbiter was taken to the Mate-Demate Device (MDD). There, it would be lifted and put on a Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA). The SCA carried it to Florida. There, it would be checked to see if anything is needed to install it for the next mission. Meanwhile, in the VAB, assembly for the next mission started. The SRBs were assembled part by part first. Then the ET would be installed. It would be empty at first and would be filled 4-5 hours before launch. Then a rollover would happen meaning that the shuttle would be carried to the VAB and then attached to the ET. Next, a rollout will happen meaning that the whole shuttle will go to one of the launchpads. It was taken on a base called the Mobile Launch Platform. After that we wait for the launch. 2 minutes after the launch, the SRBs come out. Later the Main Engine Cutoff or MECO happens. The SSME extinguish and the ET is dispatched. For the rest of the mission, to put the orbiter in orbit, we will use the OMS rocket motors. Then after doing their job, the OMS rocket motors will help to bring the shuttle to earth for landing. This is called reentering. 

Journey of a space shuttle

The space shuttle mission was a historic program in the history of space exploration. It will forever inspire us to keep moving forward and never quench our thirst for learning