Space Forum / Shuttle / November 2003

Finally got my copy of Jenkins' book.  On page 138, an artists concept has a
caption with the line "the missing segment from the lower payload bay door was
not explained".  There's also a picture on page 179 (bottom right) which shows
the missing segment on the other side door.  My theory is that the "door" with
the missing segment isn't a door at all, it's *only* a radiator, and that there
is only one payload bay door which covers the entire bay when closed, instead
of the clamshell on the production design.  One of the diagrams seems to support
this, calling one "door" a radiator, and the other a payload bay door.

Maybe someone knows where to find info on this design online so the people
without Jenkins' book can know what I'm talking about.

And while I'm on the subject, I have to gripe a bit about spell checker "slips".
This book has *oodles*.  I'm talking about things like "to added later", or
"primary objectives the Discovery mission..." (where there ought to be an "of"
right before "the").  Just way too many of those. And of course, or usenet favs
like "you're" for "your" and such make a few appearences as well.Maybe I'm just
too nit-picky, but there were enough to make me wonder if the text had been
proofread.