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1. #The space shuttle flight control system called pass upgrade
2. #The space shuttle flight control system called pass software

"It’s really the heart of the control system." "The GPCs serve as the brains of the space shuttle," Ferguson said. While this was more memory and much faster computing speed than could be achieved with the original 1970s-era Shuttle flight computers, it doesn't compare to today's desktop computers.

#The space shuttle flight control system called pass upgrade

Then once you get into space you have the radiation."Įven after a major computer upgrade in 1991, the primary flight system has a storage capacity of one megabyte and runs at a speed of 1.4 million instructions per second. "Something like a desktop might not even survive all the vibration.

#The space shuttle flight control system called pass software

"The environment of space is very harsh and unfriendly and not just space, but getting into space," said Roscoe Ferguson, a space shuttle flight software operating system engineer for the United Space Alliance. In other words, when it comes to flying the shuttle, reliability means far more than performance. On the other hand, no one straps the latest-and-greatest desktop computer inside a machine that vibrates like an old truck on a washboard road while requiring it to get a spacecraft into orbit and back safely. The space shuttle's five general purpose computers computers, or GPCs, are slow and have little memory compared to modern home computers. Photo credit: NASA.Īstronaut Scott Horowitz uses an early laptop to run a landing simulator program called PILOT. Here, STS-125 Commander Scott Altman works on the flight deck near two laptops that were set up. Laptops are set up to help astronauts in space with several tasks that demand anything from geographic representations of Earth and spacecraft for rendezvous operations to word processing and email. The GPCs operate in several formats to fly the shuttle, including the phases of on-orbit operations. STS-132 Commander Ken Ham works with the keypad that is connected to the shuttle's primary avionics system. The shuttle GPCs were upgraded in 1991, and the system that used to take two boxes, right, could run on one, left. Engineers spend months making sure any change to a computer or its software is tested repeatedly. However, they can operate for years without failing, a reliability mark that is no accident. At 64 pounds, the shuttle's general purpose computers are heavier than several modern desktop machines combined.