Shuttle vs. Soyuz

By jmajor - April 9, 2012 at 11:49 PM UTC | Space Exploration

[/caption]

Here's an interesting illustration showing the size comparison of a Space Shuttle to a Soyuz vehicle, shared on Twitter by NASA astronaut

Rick Mastracchio

(@AstroRM). Amazing to think that three flight-suited astronauts are able to fit inside a Soyuz and have life support for up to a month! (Although I'm sure most hope they won't have to stay that long.)

Compare the 7-person capacity, 65.8 cubic meter crew cabin of an orbiter to the 3-person, 10 cubic meter space inside a Soyuz and one can imagine how cozy it must get during trips to and from the Station.

Rick is currently in training for a Soyuz flight to the ISS in November of next year as a member of the Expedition 38 crew, at which time he'll get plenty of first-hand experience with the precise interior measurements of a Soyuz.

Thanks to Rick for sharing this! You can find out more about the Soyuz vehicles

here

, and check out the full source publication

MIR Hardware Heritage

(1995) by David S. F. Portree for Johnson Space Center.