Like most aircraft tires, the Space Shuttle tires are filled with nitrogen because of its stability at different altitudes and temperatures. Due to the extremely heavy loads, these bias ply tires are inflated to 340 psi (main gear) and 300 psi (nose gear). The main landing gear shuttle tires are only used one time, and the nose landing gear tires are used for two landings.
Space Shuttle Endeavour Field Trip
Future Astronauts
The Rocketdyne Operations Support Center (ROSC)
Engineers at the Rocketdyne Operations Support Center (ROSC) in Canoga Park remotely monitored the SSMEs during launch and for the first eight and a half minutes of every shuttle flight, checking pressures, temperatures, and other readouts until the shuttle reached orbit. If something went wrong, Rocketdyne staff could provide recommendations to launch control in Florida or Mission Control in Houston.
The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) is a space telescope that was carried into orbit by a Space Shuttle in 1990 and remains in operation. A 7.9 ft aperture telescope in low Earth orbit, Hubble's four main instruments observe in the near ultraviolet, visible, and near infrared. The telescope is named after the astronomer Edwin Hubble.
Click Here to view more Space Shuttle Endeavour photos.