The First ISS Common Hatch

Today’s new arrival is the first made-for-flight ISS Common Hatch, Serial #001. At 53” square, it is the largest doorway made for spaceflight, making it possible to load racks of equipment as large as a standard-size refrigerator. In contrast, Soyuz has a 31” tunnel (~1/4 the area) and Apollo’s was just 29” across.

It was manufactured by Boeing for the International Space Station, but they discovered a manufacturing issue with the 240 pounds of machined titanium alloy and put it aside, eventually making its way to me.

The hatch is “Common” to the US labs and nodes, as well as the international labs such as ESA’s Columbus. The interior side of the hatch is called the dome side, due to its smooth, clean, convex curved appearance. And the exterior is called the ribbed side given its 24 radial ribs.

1 Atm of pressure on the ISS puts 20 tons of force on the hatch, which is not uniformly distributed around the edges due to its square shape… requiring the extra stiffness — and ribbed for your safety!

“The large hatch truly is an unsung hero of the ISS design!” said station astronaut Dan Bursch in an interview with NBC. And it has performed flawlessly in orbit so far.

Reminds me of No Exit by Camus. It’s the latest artifact in the Future Ventures 🚀 Space Collection.