MS. STILSON: Well Paul from Providence wants to know, what is the maximum payload weight the Shuttle can take on a normal, routine trip to space?
MR. HIGGINBOTHAM: Well, let's see, for a mission to the Space Station's inclination, which is 51.6 degrees to the equator,
we're limited to carrying about 36,000 pounds of material to the Station. We could carry more if we launched in an equatorial orbit.
But many years ago, when the Station was redesigned, we picked this particular inclination such that the Russians could also launch spacecraft
from their launch site on Kazakhstan and reach the Station. And, unfortunately, at that higher inclination orbit we have to use more of the Shuttle's
performance capability just to get the mass up there. So we're limited in our up mass and that gets us to the 36,000 pounds.