Inside NASA Shuttle Endeavour: A bond between technology and humanity

Endeavour's flight deck on Wednesday. Credit: Stephen Clark/Spaceflight Now

See a photo tour of Endeavour's cockpit.

Put aside the nagging worry of bumping into one of those switches. No need to don clean room suits. This ship isn't flying in space anymore.

After getting over the visceral thrill of being inside a spaceship - the real thing - the compactness of the shuttle's crew cabin is quickly evident. Up to seven crew members lived aboard these ships for more than two weeks.

On most shuttle flights, four people rode to and from space on the orbiter's flight deck. Even after removing the cockpit's two rear seats, only three or four people can comfortably fit on the flight deck.

Now stripped of its kitchen, toilet, storage lockers and seats, the shuttle Endeavour's lower deck is spacious compared to the cramped flight deck. It's still not much bigger than a moving truck, but the shuttle's living space eclipses the volume of capsules like Apollo, Soyuz and NASA's new Orion spacecraft.