![]() Space Shuttle designers have not been able to embrace COTS technology as fast as those in the military because of risk, says Elrick McHenry, manager of Space Shuttle program development at NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston. Still, obsolescence is an issue, which makes commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) hardware and the open-systems architectures attractive options for future upgrades. More to the point, however, the old technology works just fine in fact, it rarely if ever fails. Even if NASA engineers wanted to keep up with the latest and greatest in computer technology, the cost of qualifying and testing each new piece of hardware for space would be astronomical - and only a fraction of the cost of requalifying the software. Why the big generation gap? Well, the functions of a desktop computer currently require more processing power than flying a spacecraft into Earth's orbit and back. The latest high-speed Intel and AMD microprocessors are as many as five or six generations ahead of the computers that control the Space Shuttle. The upgrades signal that the world's most advanced spacecraft is finally starting to catch up with the technology on the average American's desktop computer. Once all four orbiters have completed the cockpit facelift in 2004, they will get new state-of-the-art computers to complement their new displays. Meanwhile, the International Space Station, still nearing completion, continues to rely on older custom-designed technology.Īfter nearly 20 years of flying with 1970s cockpit electronics, NASA's Space Shuttle orbiter is upgrading to a digital cockpit that reduces Shuttle crew workload and cuts down on human error. NASA experts are upgrading the Space Shuttle orbiter's cockpit to a glass cockpit with commercial-off-the-shelf hardware such as liquid-crystal displays and PowerPC processors. ![]() By John McHale Click here to enlarge image
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