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The shuttle in orbit: The part of the Shuttle that would be the passenger section of an airplane, is called the payload bay. It is 60 feet long and about 15 feet across. Itis [[It is]] used for carrying cargo (satellites, experiments, etc.) into space or back to Earth. The payload bay is not pressurized, and is open to space. Astronauts have to wear spacesuits to go out into the payload bay. On STS-81, the payload bay will carry a pressurized module called Spacehab, and a docking module that will connect the space shuttle to the Russian Mir.

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The payload bay doors play an important role in the shuttle mission. When these doors are open, the shuttle's internal heat can be radiated into space. This is the primary means of cooling the shuttle. Because of this, the doors must be opened within the first couple of hours of the flight, or the shuttle has to return to Earth.

The OMS engines, at the rear of the shuttle, are used while the shuttle is in space to change the shuttle's orbit.

In the nose of the orbiter is the two-level "crew cabin", a pressurized area where the astronauts live and work during the shuttle missions. The upper level is called the flight deck, and resembles the cockpit of an airplane. The flight deck has most of the controls for the space shuttle, and for the satellites and experiments the shuttle is carrying. There are windows at the front, top, and back of this room. The top windows, called the overhead windows, are where the KidSat camera will be mounted.

The lower level is the shuttle's mid-deck, where food, water, clothes, and sleeping bags are stored. The bathroom is also on this level. The KidSat camera is stored in a locker on the middeck during launch.

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