Object
Starboard Payload‑Bay Power Drive Unit (Space Shuttle)
A mechanical power drive unit mounted on the starboard edge of the Space Shuttle's payload‑bay door that controls the door's opening and closing. The compact industrial actuator assembly includes motors, gearbox housings, fractured mounting flanges, and power conduits (appearing scorched and smeared with hydraulic residue) and is currently jammed and refusing to move. In the narrative the unit's failure is the proximate cause of a shuttle emergency that converts a technical malfunction into a personal and political crisis for the White House team.
3 appearances
Purpose
To provide the motorized force and gear reduction necessary to actuate and secure the payload‑bay door of the Space Shuttle (open/close and lock the bay).
Significance
Functions as the immediate technical cause of a high‑stakes crisis: its jam necessitates an EVA, endangers an astronaut (Toby's brother), and converts an abstract policy problem into a personal and media emergency that intensifies tension across the team.
Appearances in the Narrative
When this object appears and how it's used