Nasa Space Shuttle Avionics System

• It represents the frst successful attempt to incorporate a comprehensive fail operational/fail safe concept in an avionics system.• It pioneered the development of complex redundancy management techniques, some of which rival the expert system approaches emerging today.• It is the first operational aerospace system to use digital data bus technology to perform flight-critical functions. • It is the first operational system to utilize a high-order language to develop and produce onboard software. • It is the first operational aerospace program to make extensive use of flight software program overlays from a tape memory to expand the effective size of computer memory.• It is the first system to integrate the flight control function with the rest of the avionics functions. • It included the first use of digital fly-by-wire technology in an operational atmospheric flight application.• It is the first avionics system to use a multifunction cathode-ray-tube display and crew interface approach.• It is the first avionics system to provide extensive operational services to onboard nonavionics systems.Such pioneering innovations and concepts are remarkable in that they emerged in a design environment which would be considered archaic by today's standards.