Launch control systems: GOING FROM ANALOG TO DIGITAL: THE REMAKING OF NASA'S GROUND STATION LAUNCH RECORDERS

摘要

Until 2006, most of the graphical recorders in NASA's Launch Control Center at the Kennedy Space Center were paper recorders with analog inputs. Clearly, it was time for an upgrade, so NASA and its main contractor for the US Space Shuttle program, United Space Alliance, set about finding the ideal instrument: one that combined the best of the analog and digital worlds. In the tense seconds surrounding lift-off and landing, they wanted to retain the highly graphical presentation of mission data afforded by traditional analog recorders, because the information can be assimilated instantly without decoding numbers or interpreting tolerances. On the other hand, paper recorders have a very limited bandwidth, and could only accept analog inputs.