Why does the Space Shutttle fly with the bay towards the earth?

Question

I always notice that when you see the shuttle in orbit, the bay is poiting towards the earth instead of away from it. So you could say its flying upside down.

why do they do this?

is it safer?

Answer 1

I believe temperature control is the main reason. If they flew with the bay up it would move from direct sunlight to darkness and back again every orbit as it passed behind the Earth. With the bay towards the Earth the thermal gradient is reduced. On the daylight side the bay is only subject to reflected heat from Earth, and on the night side it is subjected to re-radiated heat from the Earth. It is still receiving less heat on the night side, but a little more than if it were facing deep space, and on the day side it gets considerably less than if it were facing the Sun.

Answer 2

I believe it is because it is more stable for the shuttle. Gravitational gradients in orbit will pull the shuttle into this configuration eventually without any intervetion from maneuvering jets. So unless they need to be in some other position they usually remain this way to prevent oscillations from gravity gradients.

Answer 3

lets em look down on the Earth.

Answer 4

for cooling-purposes