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Exhibit Endeavour: NASA shuffles shuttles for final museum prep
Photos credit: collectSPACE/Robert Z. Pearlman
Endeavour's name was borrowed from the 18th century sailing ship assigned to chart the South Pacific under British explorer Capt. James Cook's command. His Endeavour was small at approximately 368 tons, 100 feet long and 20 feet wide. In comparison, its modern day namesake is 78 tons, 122 feet in length and 78 feet wide. |
Endeavour's forward reaction control system (FRCS), which it used with similar thrusters at its rear to control its orientation in space, was removed and sent out for servicing at the White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico. The FRCS was reinstalled in early February 2012. |
The walls of the white room leading to the crew compartment hatch have been signed by those who have entered the orbiters through this room. Among the autographs found in OPF-2 are Margaret Thatcher and Columbia's STS-107 fallen crew. |
Endeavour's mid-deck has been emptied of its waste collection system (toilet), food galley, storage lockers and crew seats. They won't be reinstalled but rather shipped to the California Science Center to be displayed separately. |
The tunnel leads into Endeavour's external airlock, with hatches that lead out into the payload bay and up into the docking adapter used to dock with the International Space Station. |
Looking up into Endeavour's flight deck, where spacecraft operator Jay Beason can be seen. Beason is one of the few specialists familiar with every one of the 2,000 switches, circuit breakers, displays and controls that line the shuttle's cockpit. |
Endeavour's forward flight deck: commander's seat at left, pilot's at right. Both positions have manual flight controls, including rotation and translation hand controllers, rudder pedals and speed-brake controllers. |
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Related article: Exhibit Endeavour: NASA shuffles shuttles for final museum prep
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