Newsgroups: sci.space.shuttle
Path: utzoo!henry
From: henry@zoo.toronto.edu (Henry Spencer)
Subject: Re: Computer Controlled Landing?
Message-ID: <1991Mar15.163810.17593@zoo.toronto.edu>
Date: Fri, 15 Mar 1991 16:38:10 GMT
References: <1077@uncw.UUCP>
Organization: U of Toronto Zoology

In article <1077@uncw.UUCP> session@uncw.UUCP (Zack C. Sessions) writes:
>Can someone settle an argument for me? I read when the shuttle first
>came into being, that it's computer was so intelligent that it could
>launch, orbit, and land all under complete computer control. I also
>read a few years ago that while the computer is capable of landing
>the shuttle, they haven't trusted it to do so yet...

In theory, I think the only thing the computer can't do is lower the
landing gear.  (That is under manual control as a safety precaution,
since the gear cannot be raised again in flight.)  In practice, I believe
it is still the case that all landings to date have been manual.  I
could be wrong.
-- 
"But this *is* the simplified version   | Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology
for the general public."     -S. Harris |  henry@zoo.toronto.edu  utzoo!henry