Shuttle reaction control system (RCS) thrusters

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Author	Topic: Shuttle reaction control system (RCS) thrusters
lm5eagle Member Posts: 337 From: Registered: Jul 2007	posted December 13, 2009 11:15 AM On the John Young unofficial website, the following quote is cited: "These 33 jets point in 33 different directions. No man's brain is fast enough and no man's hands are quick enough to use those 33 jets to come back down to Earth. A human being could never remember how to point 33 thrusters - he just couldn't do it." Is Young referring to the RCS thrusters here? I read elsewhere that there are 44 reaction control engines located on the orbiter. Could someone reconcile the differences for me?
Robert Pearlman Editor Posts: 23493 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999	posted December 13, 2009 11:33 AM Per NASA's Space Shuttle Reference manual: The forward RCS has 14 primary and two vernier engines. The aft RCS has 12 primary and two vernier engines in each pod. For a total of 44; perhaps 33 is a typo or Young misspoke/misremembered?
lm5eagle Member Posts: 337 From: Registered: Jul 2007	posted December 14, 2009 06:43 AM Thanks, Robert. Yes, there is clearly a mistake on the webpage. It's hard to believe that John Young would be the originator of such an error.
Lasv3 Member Posts: 176 From: Bratislava, Slovakia Registered: Apr 2009	posted December 14, 2009 09:33 AM He is the human being as we all are, so why not, it happens to everyone

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