I photographed these Space Shuttle Seats at Johnson Space Center and the Lone Star Flight Museum in Houston, Texas.
Space Shuttle Seat
Lone Star Flight Museum, Houston 2024
Shuttle Orbiter Crew Seat
The Pilot and Commander seats remained in place, but these Crew Seats were removed and stowed during the mission. The cushion material technology developed by NASA in the 1960s was released in the early 1980s and is widely used as “memory foam” in shoes, mattresses, helmets and other safety equipment.
NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston 2024
Shuttle Test Flight Ejection Seat
After the first four flights on Columbia (STS-1 through STS-4) the shuttle was classified and the ejection seats were replaced by fixed spacecraft seats for the Pilot and Commander.