The Orbiter

The structure consists of the forward fuselage which contains the crew cabin, the mid fuselage supporting the payload bay area, and the aft fuselage where the main engines, body flap and vertical tail are located.

Payload Bay Doors

The left-hand and right-hand doors are hinged to the mid fuselage and latched at the forward and aft fuselage. The doors provide an opening for payload deployment and retrieval. The payload bay is not pressurized. Some payloads may not be attached directly to the Orbiter but to payload carriers attached to the Orbiter.

Vertical Tail

Consists of a structural fin surface, the rudder/ speed brake surface, a tip and a lower trailing edge. The rudder splits into two halves to serve as a speed brake. The vertical tail and rudder/speed brake are covered with a reusable thermal protection system.

Orbital Manueveruing System

Two orbital maneuvering engines, located in external pods on each side of the aft fuselage, provide thrust for orbit insertion, orbit change, orbit transfer, rendezvous and deorbit. The engine is designed for 100 missions with a service life of 10 years and is capable of sustaining 1000 starts and 15 hours firing time.

Space Shuttle Main Engines

Three main engines provide thrust to the Orbiter during launch and ascent into orbit. The engines fire about 7 seconds before launch then cut off 8 minutes and 40 seconds after launch when their fuel is exhausted. The engines are reusable from mission to mission. Also, the engines are movable so they can steer the shuttle during ascent into space.

Body Flap

With aerodynamic and thermal seals, it provides the shuttle pitch trim control and thermally shields the main engines during re-entry.

The Elevons

The two segment elevons provide orbiter flight control during flight in the Earth's atmosphere. The elevons are divided into two segments for each wing, and each segment is supported by three hinges. Each elevon travels 40 degrees up and 25 degrees down.

The Wing

The areodynamic lifting surface that provides conventional lift and control for the Orbiter. Each wing is about 18.28 meters (60 feet) long at the fuselage intersection with a maximum thickness of 1.52 meters (5 feet).

The Crew Cabin

The cabin arrangement consists of a flight deck, middeck and lower level equipment bay. The flight deck accomodates a crew of four including the commander's seat and pilot's seat. The middeck seats up to four and provides room for dining, exercising, sleeping and general maintenance.

Forward Fuselage

Here are located the crew cabin, the reaction control system module, nose cap, nose gear, nose gear wheel well and nose gear doors.

Mid Fuselage

This structure interfaces with the forward fuselage, aft fuselage and wings. The payload bay area is formed here supporting the payload bay doors, the wing glove and various orbiter components.

Aft Fuselage

This structure interfaces with the orbital maneuvering systems, space shuttle main engines, vertical tail, body flap and external tank rear attachments.

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