Each command is issued to four bolts at a time, spaced at 90° intervals. A "DBBoltck" command is issued to the Powered Bolts, and the Capture Latches are individually commanded to 212° shaft angle. The bolt/nut structural latch and 4-bar capture latches remained, although the bolt diameter had increased to 0.625 inches (15.9 mm). The bolt could be tightened from either the head side, or the nut side. Phase B ran 35 partial cycles (capture and nut acquisition) under an expanded range of temperature conditions.

Structural joints that resist high vacuum are engineered to strictly limit gaps across the joint, and the conditions under which they are assembled are carefully managed. Load tests at the yield and ultimate static conditions were conducted at the component level, as were dynamic conditions. In the case of CBM, the load path includes both the module and the RMS, so can an iva be paid off early be very complicated. In the context of CBM, limitations on the final relative velocity eliminate docking as an acceptable means of meeting the requirements.

In the context of CBM, the definitive distinctions are found in the ACBM Dev. The ACBM is then shut down by removing power from the CPAs. Two CPAs are selected as the Primary and Secondary Master Controllers. The two protocols differ in how the latches draw the two halves to within reach of the Powered Bolts. They're "conformed" when the two halves of the CBM are bolted together at "hard mate". The bolts are tightened in a multi-stage process that gradually conforms the two flanges, compresses the CBM/CBM seals, and preloads the CBM/CBM joint.

Covers (2) can also be placed over the joint's bolt heads, each of which is a potential leak path through the joint. For example, the Powered Bolt and Nut functionality was qualified by component-level tests that included Ambient Functional, Random Vibration, Thermal Vacuum, and, for the bolt, Thermal Cycle. Similarly, the Castellated Nut is referred to in the Maintenance Book as a "contingency nut", but the term here is more commonly used in the industry. The tightly-packed area near one corner of a Radial Port hatch is seen here in a figure from an in-flight maintenance manual.

The tip of a Powered Bolt (1) peeks out from the outboard flange on Kibo's radial port during STS-124. The qualitative internal loads are based on a close read of Preloaded Bolt Criteria (NASA/NSTS, 1998), which was required by the Structural Design Requirements (NASA/SSPO, 2000)), §3.5.5 (which was, in turn, called by ACBM Dev. For example, non-quantitative M/D requirements were documented in the ACBM Dev. See, for example, the discussion of Apollo spacecraft jets interacting with Skylab in History of Space Shuttle Rendezvous (Goodman, 2011), Chapter 5.

The shape and density of the plume may not be intuitive. The Common Berthing Mechanism (CBM) connects habitable elements in the US Orbital Segment (USOS) of the International Space Station (ISS). By late 1994, the US, Russia, and International Partners agreed in principle to merge their national efforts into a single "international (sic) Space Station" project. Space Station Progr. Description (NASA/HQ, 1984) page 344. No mention is made of the RMS in this report; berthing is defined without distinction between propulsive maneuvers typically now associated only with docking (on the one hand), and the use of a telerobotic manipulator (on the other hand).