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The satellite designs also required that the Space Shuttle have a 4.6 by 18 m (15 by 60 ft) payload bay. NASA evaluated the F-1 and J-2 engines from the Saturn rockets , and determined that they were insufficient for the requirements of the Space Shuttle; in July 1971, it issued a contract to Rocketdyne to begin development on the RS-25 engine.
When Faget again proposed a 12 ft (3.7 m) wide payload bay, the military almost immediately insisted on retaining the 15 ft (4.6 m) width. [3] The Air Force also gained the equivalent of the use of one of the shuttles for free despite not paying for the shuttle's development or construction.
English: A diagram showing the payload bay configuration for STS-107, the twenty-eighth and final flight of the Space Shuttle Columbia (OV-102). In view (from left to right) are the SPACEHAB access tunnel, the SPACEHAB Research Double Module, the FREESTAR and OARE experiments (mounted to a Hitchhiker Multipurpose Equipment Support Structure), and the Extended Duration Orbiter (EDO) pallet.
The most massive payload launched by the Space Shuttle was the Chandra X-ray Observatory in 1999 at 50,162 lb (22,753 kg), including its Inertial Upper Stage (IUS) and support equipment. [41] The Shuttle was capable of returning approximately 16,000 kg (35,000 lb) of cargo to Earth.
Berthing of spacecraft can be traced at least as far back as the berthing of payloads into the Space Shuttle payload bay. [10] Such payloads could be either free-flying spacecraft captured for maintenance/return, or payloads temporarily exposed to the space environment at the end of the Remote Manipulator System. Several different berthing ...
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The collection of Shuttle subsystems and components used to hold and manipulate items in the payload bay, especially items for which flight release (or mating) was planned. Elements included the Shuttle RMS, Payload Retention Latch Assemblies, Grapple Fixtures, Targets, and a CCTV system. See the Payload Bay User's Guide (NASA/NSTS, 2011).
The Space Shuttle flight software that monitors and controls the Canadarm was developed in Houston, Texas, by the Federal Systems Division of IBM. Rockwell International's Space Transportation Systems Division designed, developed, tested, and built the systems used to attach the Canadarm to the payload bay of the orbiter.