Are there any photos of the STS RCO IFM cable?
Apologies for the messy acronyms in the title...
STS = Space Transportation System, better known as Space Shuttle
RCO = Remote Control Orbiter, capability to operate the Shuttle from ground control
IFM = In-Flight Maintenance, the modifications needed to enable RCO
I was reading this Wikipedia page:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/STS-3xx
And found this passage interesting.
NASA developed the RCO in-flight maintenance (IFM) cable to extend existing auto-land capabilities of the shuttle to allow remaining tasks to be completed from the ground. The purpose of the RCO IFM cable was to provide an electrical signal connection between the Ground Command Interface Logic (GCIL) and the flight deck panel switches. The cable is approximately 28 feet (8.5 m) long, weighs over 5 lb (2.3 kg), and has 16 connectors.
It sounds like quite the cable! I am hoping to see some pictures because it seems quite impressive.
I am also unclear on one detail - is the cable a single item that exists in singular quantity, or were multiple made? When someone says "The Falcon 9 first stage can land upright", they are referring to "Falcon 9 first stage" as a design, of which many exist. I am not sure if this type of phrasing is being used for the cable (where each such instance of the cable is 28 feet, 5 lbs, etc) or if they are using the literal phrasing where only a single cable existed.
Later in the Wikipedia page, it says
The cable remained aboard the ISS until the end of the Shuttle program.
This is a bit ambiguous and leaves room for 3 possible future outcomes:
- The cable remained aboard until the end of the program... And continues to remain aboard
- The cable was returned to Earth
- The cable was disposed of in a reentering cargo vehicle, as ISS trash
Is it known which of these 3 outcomes occurred?