How is the space shuttle pressurized?

The cabin pressurization system combines the gases in the correct mixture at normal atmospheric pressure. While in orbit, only one oxygen-nitrogen system is used to pressurize the orbiter. During launch and landing, both systems of each gas are used. Five loops of fans circulate the atmosphere.

Why the shuttle’s payload bay doors must be opened soon after achieving orbit?

The payload bay doors were opened to help cool the shuttle after it was in orbit. The payload bay held large cargo going to the space station.

What is a cargo bay space shuttle?

The cargo bay is a space 15 ft (4.5 m) wide by 60 ft (18 m) long in which the shuttle’s payloads—the modules or satellites that it ports to orbit or back to Earth— are stored. The cargo bay can hold up to about 65,000 lb (30,000 kg) during ascent, and about half that amount during descent.

Is the space station pressurized?

The space station has an internal pressurized volume equal that of a Boeing 747. More than 50 computers control the systems on the space station. More than 3 million lines of software code on the ground support more than 1.5 million lines of flight software code.

How much psi is in a space suit?

4.3 pounds per square inch
Spacesuits for the space shuttle era are pressurized at 4.3 pounds per square inch (psi), but because the gas in the suit is 100 percent oxygen instead of 20 percent, the person in a spacesuit actually has more oxygen to breathe than is available at an altitude of 10,000 feet or even at sea level without the spacesuit.

How big is the space shuttle cargo bay?

60 feet long
The bay is 15 feet in diameter and 60 feet long; large enough to fit a school bus or 50,000 pounds of payload. The shuttle’s velocity on orbit is about 17,500 mph. The shuttle has three main elements; the orbiter, the twin solid rocket boosters and the external tank.

How big is the cargo bay on the space shuttle?

The payload bay comprised most of the orbiter vehicle’s fuselage, and provided the cargo-carrying space for the Space Shuttle’s payloads. It was 18 m (60 ft) long and 4.6 m (15 ft) wide, and could accommodate cylindrical payloads up to 4.6 m (15 ft) in diameter.

How does the Space Station stay pressurized?

It is provided from Earth whenever the ISS receives a supply shuttle and pumped into pressurised tanks mounted outside the airlock; and by a backup solid-fuel oxygen generator called Vika, or SFOG, developed by the Russian Federal Space Agency for the Mir space station.

How does the ISS not run out of oxygen?

Water, which is made of oxygen and hydrogen atoms bonded together, is also used to maintain oxygen supply on the International Space Station. Using a process called electrolysis, which involves running electricity through water, astronauts and cosmonauts are able to split the oxygen from the hydrogen.

Could a space shuttle go to the Moon?

Can the Space Shuttle fly to the Moon? A. No, the Space Shuttle is designed to travel in low-Earth orbit (within a few hundred miles of the Earth’s surface). It does not carry enough propellant to leave Earth’s orbit and travel to the Moon.

How does a space shuttle return to Earth?

When the astronauts want to return to Earth they turn on the engines, to push their spacecraft out of orbit. Gravity then pulls the spacecraft back towards the Earth. The spacecraft may be slowed to a safe landing speed by parachutes.

What is the payload bay of a Space Shuttle?

As the space shuttle Discovery flies near the International Space Station for docking, its payload bay doors are open. The Leonardo Multipurpose Logistics Module is resting inside the payload bay. the area inside the space shuttle orbiter where cargo was packed The payload bay doors were opened to help cool the shuttle after it was in orbit.

What happens to MPLMs in the Space Shuttle cargo bay?

Two MPLMs made a dozen trips in the Shuttle cargo bay and initially berthed to the Unity module and later the Harmony module on the ISS. From there, supplies were offloaded, and finished experiments and waste were reloaded. The MPLM was then reberthed in the Shuttle for return to Earth.

How did the Space Shuttle launch?

The Shuttle stack launched vertically like a conventional rocket. It lifted off under the power of its two SRBs and three main engines, which were fueled by liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen from the ET. The Space Shuttle had a two-stage ascent. The SRBs provided additional thrust during liftoff and first-stage flight.

What was the budget of the Space Shuttle program?

: III–264 During its tenure, the Space Shuttle served as the only U.S. vehicle to launch astronauts, of which there was no replacement until the launch of Crew Dragon Demo-2 on May 30, 2020. The overall NASA budget of the Space Shuttle program has been estimated to be $221 billion (in 2012 dollars).