Multifunction Electronic Display
Subsystem (MEDS) is shown in the
cockpit of Atlantis. The "glass cockpit"
offers easy-to-read graphical views of
key flight indicators such as attitude display and mach speed. Technology first used in
military, commercial aircraft When NASA astronaut Fred Gregory
learned that the cockpit in Shuttle
Atlantis was slated for a total
technology update, he advised Shuttle
managers to talk with the agency's
aeronautics experts. So it should be no surprise that Atlantis' new cockpit
looks a lot like a future airliner cockpit,
with colorful multi-function computer
displays stretched from one side to the
other. The radical new look is an
accurate reflection of the cockpit's radical new capabilities. Gregory, originally from NASA Langley
and now NASA Associate
Administrator for Safety and Mission
Assurance, knew that Langley had
pioneered the "glass cockpit" concept
in ground simulators and demonstration flights in the NASA 737
flying laboratory. Based on that work
and a favorable response from
industry customers, Boeing had
developed the first glass cockpits for
production airliners. It was an aviation success story. And, now, what is good for modern
airliners will also be good for modern
spaceships. The technology will make
Shuttle Atlantis much easier and safer
to fly, according to Shuttle officials.
Scores of outdated electromechanical cockpit instruments and gauges have
given way to 11 full-color flat panel
screens. Not only does the new system
improve crew/orbiter interaction with
easy-to-read, graphic portrayals of
key flight indicators like attitude,
altitude and speed, but it also reduces
the high cost of maintaining obsolete systems. The system also provides
greater backup capability, weighs less
and uses less power than the original
design. For these reasons the people who fly
and maintain the Shuttle fleet eagerly
awaited the first flight of Atlantis since
it was equipped with the new
Multifunction Electronic Display System
(MEDS). That first flight -- to deliver supplies to the International Space
Station -- took place in May 2000. Honeywell Space Systems, Phoenix,
was instrumental in designing and
producing MEDS. Astronauts will use the displays to
navigate and land Atlantis. The
displays operate with the convenience
and control of the most advanced
commercial and military flat-panel
display technology available today. In addition, the liquid crystal displays
provide unique performance
capabilities that enhance mission
safety. Astronauts can easily read
important flight data because light
sources, including the sun, produce no glare on the screen and the display
allows for clear viewing from positions
at a wide range of angles from the
screen. The MEDS is perhaps the most visible of
several system-wide improvements
made to Atlantis during a 10-month
major overhaul. Other upgrades were
in areas of Shuttle main engines, the
new Super Lightweight Tank, Integrated Vehicle Health Management
System, and the Checkout and Launch
Control System. Honeywell is under contract to Boeing
North American to provide the new
displays for all four Shuttle orbiters. What is a "Glass Cockpit?" Why all future aircraft will have one Modern "glass cockpits" like those in
the Boeing 777, the F-117 stealth
fighter and Shuttle Atlantis represent a
revolution in the way cockpits for
aircraft and spacecraft are designed
and built today. The first hints of this revolution appeared in the 1970s
when flight-worthy cathode ray tube
(CRT) screens began to replace a few
of the electromechanical displays,
gauges and instruments that had
served so well for so long. These new "glass" instruments, as few and as
primitive as they were, gave the
cockpit a distinctly different look and
suggested the name, "glass cockpit." The revolution in cockpit design was
born of both opportunity and
necessity. Those working to advance
commercial airline passenger service
felt it first. Writing in "Airborne Trailblazer: Two
Decades with NASA Langley's 737
Flying Laboratory," Lane Wallace said: "Prior to the 1970s, air transport
operations were not considered
sufficiently demanding to require
advanced equipment like electronic
flight displays. The increasing
complexity of transport aircraft, the advent of digital systems and the
growing air traffic congestion around
airports began to change that,
however." She added that the average transport
aircraft in the mid-1970s had more
than 100 cockpit instruments and
controls, and the primary flight
instruments were already crowded
with indicators, crossbars, and symbols. In other words, the growing
number of cockpit elements were
competing for cockpit space and pilot
attention. What was needed, she explained,
were displays that could process the
raw aircraft system and flight data into
an integrated, easily understood
picture of the aircraft situation,
position and progress, not only in horizontal and vertical dimensions, but
with regard to time and speed, as well. In response, engineers at NASA
Langley Research Center worked with
key industry partners to develop and
test electronic flight display concepts,
culminating in an all-important series
of flights to demonstrate a full glass cockpit system. Boeing loaned some
of its most promising engineers to the
project. Rockwell Collins turned the
team's concepts into hardware. The challenges were many and varied.
In designing the experimental system,
the research team looked at what
information pilots needed to have and
how it should be presented to them.
One unexpected challenge: Finding the right balance between what the
computerized system should manage
and what the pilot should manage.
The result: A glass cockpit system with
an autopilot that increased safety by
reducing pilot workload at peak times, yet kept the pilot "in the loop" at all
times to maintain situational
awareness. Realistic terminal area flights with the
NASA Boeing 737 flying laboratory
generated a great deal of interest from
airline pilots and other key elements of
the aviation industry, and helped state
the case for Federal Aviation Administration certification. The success of the NASA-led glass
cockpit work is reflected in the total
acceptance of electronic flight displays
beginning with the introduction of the
Boeing 767 in 1982. Airlines and their
passengers, alike, have benefitted. Safety and efficiency of flight have
been increased with improved pilot
understanding of the airplane's
situation relative to its environment.
The cost of air travel is less than it
would be with the old technology and more flights arrive on time. The Department of Defense has
adopted glass cockpit technology to
increase performance of its newest
aircraft, from fighter-interceptors to
long-range bombers.
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