Space Shuttle Discovery: The R-Bar Pitch Maneuver | International Space Station

Space Shuttle Discovery: The R-Bar Pitch Maneuver | International Space Station

A close-up view of Space Shuttle Discovery's tail section is featured in this image photographed by an Expedition 13 crewmember on the International Space Station during the RPM (R-Bar Pitch Maneuver) survey. Visible are the shuttle's main engines, vertical stabilizer, orbital maneuvering system (OMS) pods and a portion of the aft cargo bay and wings. 

This was a standard procedure recommended by the Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB) for all space shuttles docking to the International Space Station after a damaged heat shield caused the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster. The CAIB examined the destruction of the Space Shuttle Columbia during STS-107 upon atmospheric re-entry on February 1, 2003.

The name of the R-Bar Pitch Maneuver was based on the R-bar and V-bar lines that are used in the approach to the International Space Station (ISS). R-bar or Earth Radius Vector is an imaginary line connecting the space station to the center of the Earth. V-bar would be the velocity vector of the space station. The shuttle approached the station along the R-bar line and at a small distance from the ISS, usually around 600 feet (180 meters), the shuttle performed a slow 360° pitch, during which it exposed its underside—the heat shield—to the ISS. 

Image Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC)

Photo Number: ISS013-E-47643

Image Date: July 6, 2006

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