They are two long, narrow doors in the belly of the shuttle that open to allow the crew do move whatever is in the cargo bay out into space. Best example: The fabulous Hubble Space Telescope was unloaded out of the shuttle through the payload bay doors.
Payload is carried in the Space Shuttle's Payload Bay. The payload bay is situated behind the crew cabin, in the middle of the orbiter. It is 60 ft long and 15 ft wide. The payload bay has two large doors that open once the shuttle reaches orbit. On the inner side of these doors are radiators which help cool the shuttle. Inside the payload bay, there are latches to hold satellites, space station components, experiments, and other objects in place. The payload bay also holds the space shuttle's remote manipulating system (RMS), KU-band antenna, and several cameras and lights. The space shuttle is capable of carrying about 65,000 pounds of cargo in the payload bay.
Skylab. It was not in the payload bay for every mission, though.
A payload bay is where cargo is stored, like on a space mission to the ISS.
Typically a space shuttle mission lasts about a week, although a mission can last up to 10 days. However with the extended duration orbiter (EDO) pallet (A 15 ft diameter assembly of equipment) installed in the space shuttle's payload bay, a shuttle mission can last up to 16 days. The flaw with the EDO though is that it takes up weight and space in the shuttle's payload bay, meaning that the shuttle cannot carry as much cargo. A total of 14 space shuttle missions have used the EDO pallet, although it was destroyed by the Columbia accident on STS-107. The longest space shuttle mission was STS-80, which lasted 17 days and 15 hours. The shortest were STS-1 and STS-2, each lasting 2 days and 6 hours.
Ten. Six on the front of the flight deck, two on the roof of the flight deck, and two on the rear of the flight deck to watch payload bay opperations.
Payload is carried in the Space Shuttle's Payload Bay. The payload bay is situated behind the crew cabin, in the middle of the orbiter. It is 60 ft long and 15 ft wide. The payload bay has two large doors that open once the shuttle reaches orbit. On the inner side of these doors are radiators which help cool the shuttle. Inside the payload bay, there are latches to hold satellites, space station components, experiments, and other objects in place. The payload bay also holds the space shuttle's remote manipulating system (RMS), KU-band antenna, and several cameras and lights. The space shuttle is capable of carrying about 65,000 pounds of cargo in the payload bay.
Enough to carry a bus in it's payload bay.
Skylab. It was not in the payload bay for every mission, though.
To allow cooling of the Shuttle: The interior side of the two cargo bay doors are covered with radiators. Those radiators are connected to the overall cooling system of the Shuttle. These radiators have to be exposed to space (i.e. the doors have to be opened) to reject their heat and avoid overheating of the Shuttle subsystems. This is why the cargo bay doors are opened as soon as the Shuttle reaches its orbit, and are closed only shortly before re-entry.
A payload bay is where cargo is stored, like on a space mission to the ISS.
A payload bay is where cargo is stored, like on a space mission to the ISS.
Typically a space shuttle mission lasts about a week, although a mission can last up to 10 days. However with the extended duration orbiter (EDO) pallet (A 15 ft diameter assembly of equipment) installed in the space shuttle's payload bay, a shuttle mission can last up to 16 days. The flaw with the EDO though is that it takes up weight and space in the shuttle's payload bay, meaning that the shuttle cannot carry as much cargo. A total of 14 space shuttle missions have used the EDO pallet, although it was destroyed by the Columbia accident on STS-107. The longest space shuttle mission was STS-80, which lasted 17 days and 15 hours. The shortest were STS-1 and STS-2, each lasting 2 days and 6 hours.
Ten. Six on the front of the flight deck, two on the roof of the flight deck, and two on the rear of the flight deck to watch payload bay opperations.
The space shuttle does not go directly to the ISS. There are many in-space preparations that have to be done before the complicated docking process can begin. The space shuttle systems need to be checked in orbit and the payload bay doors need to be opened. Since the Columbia disaster, there is also an additional safety check of the shuttle's thermal tiles by the robotic arm and boom. It usually takes some time for the shuttle to catch up with the ISS - about two days. It would be too dangerous to launch the shuttle directly towards the ISS and it is deliberately launched when the ISS is not passing overhead.
It had a cargo bay.
There are windows located on several parts of the space shuttle. The space shuttle has 6 windows in the forward cockpit, for the Commander and Pilot to look out during launch, re-entry, and landing. In the aft cockpit, there are 4 windows. 2 windows are located on the aft wall and look into the payload bay. These are useful during remote manipulator system (RMS) operations as well as any other work in the payload bay. The other 2 windows are located on the ceiling. These are useful for Earth observations or for rendezvous and docking with other spacecraft. The aft cockpit also has several video monitors that can be linked to cameras in the payload bay for further observations. The final window is located on the mid deck on the hatch that the crew uses to enter and exit the vehicle. This window is very small.
The Hubble telescope went into space in the cargo bay of the Space Shuttle.