The space shuttle has three levels - the flight deck, the mid-deck, and the utility floor. The flight deck is where the pilot, commander, and two other astronauts fly the space shuttle. Three astronauts spend their day on the mid-deck. This is where the astronauts sleep and go to the bathroom. The utility floor storage area is where they keep the water and air tanks. The laboratory is located in the cargo bay on the utility floor. That is also where the satellites are stored and experiments are performed. The cargo bay is where they complete all the missions. For example if one of their missions was to repair a satellite, the astronauts would fix it in the cargo bay.

Orbiting around the Earth is very hot because of the Earth's atmosphere and the heat from the sun. The space shuttle has special tiles covering the ship to protect it from the heat. The tiles are so safe that if exposed to temperatures of up to 2300 degrees F, a human could hold them in their bare hands without injury! The tiles can last for up to 100 space missions. Without these tiles, the space shuttle would burn into a crisp, killing all the astronauts inside.

Located on the left side of the space shuttle is a robotic arm. The robotic arm was built by the Canadians. The arm is used to pickup satellites and astronauts. The arm has three moving joints similar to the human wrist, elbow, and shoulder. The arm stretches fifty feet in length. It has two video cameras used to record the activities of the crew. The robotic arm has been a very important tool because it was used to help build and repair the Russian space station, Mir.

One day the new X-33 will replace the space shuttle. The X-33 is only half the size of the space shuttle. NASA is conducting X-33 test flights now.