NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Image: L74-07810
Source: NASA Langley
Date: 1974
Description: The forward flight deck of the NASA 737 near the time of its arrival at NASA's Langley Research Center in 1974. Note the profusion of gauges and dials and the yokes used to control the aircraft. The co-pilot's position, however, has received an upgrade of electronic flight displays for research into SST technology.

Image: L87-03645
Source: NASA Langley
Date: 1987
Description: The aft flight deck of the NASA 737 in 1987. An upgrade in 1986 replaced four original 5x7 monochrome displays with eight 8x8 color monitors.

Image: EL-2000-00037
Source: NASA KSC
Date: 3/1/2000
Description: A new full-color, flat panel Multifunction Electronic Display Subsystem (MEDS), often referred to as the "glass cockpit," is shown in the cockpit of the orbiter Atlantis. The recently installed MEDS upgrade improves crew/orbiter interaction with easy-to-read, graphic portrayals of key flight indicators like attitude display and mach speed. The installation makes Atlantis the most modern orbiter in the fleet and equals the systems on current commercial jet airliners and military aircraft. Atlantis is scheduled to fly on mission STS-101 in April 2000.

Image: L74-05183
Source: NASA Langley
Release Date: 1974
Description: Original configuration of the aft flight deck of the NASA 737 with monochrome flight displays. Note the "Brolly Handle" flight controls.

Image: S99-01415
Source: NASA JSC
Date: January 1999
Description: This "fish-eye" view illustrates NASA's Multifunction Electronic Display Subsystem (MEDS), otherwise known as "glass cockpit." It represents a number of important modifications that have been accomplished on the Orbiter's flight deck. This photo is actually a recent one of the fixed base Space Shuttle mission simulator in the Johnson Space Center's (JSC) Mission Simulation and Training Facility. The fixed base simulator has been outfitted with MEDS to be used by flight crews for training. The Space Shuttle Atlantis is the only Orbiter so far outfitted with MEDS and will fly with the new display system for the first time on STS-101. All of the Orbiters will eventually be outfitted with the new system, which enhances safety on the Orbiter by providing multiple backup display functions and brings the Space Shuttle cockpit displays up to date with technology that is now common in many commercial airliners.

Image: KSC-99PP-0479
Source: NASA KSC
Release Date: 29-Apr-1999
Description: STS-101 Commander James Halsell (left) and STS-98 Commander Ken Cockrell (right) pause for a photo while looking over the recently installed Multifunction Electronic Display Subsystem (MEDS), or "glass cockpit" in the cockpit of the orbiter Atlantis. The first flight of the upgraded Atlantis, STS-101, is scheduled to launch in April 2000; STS-98 is scheduled for launch in January 2001.

Image: S-80-40389
Source: NASA JSC
Release Date: 10-Oct-1980
Description: STS-1 crew in Columbia's cabin. Astronauts John W. Young [left] commander and Robert L. Crippen, pilot, the prime crew members for NASA's first Space Shuttle flight, STS-1. Here, they are logging time in the Shuttle orbiter Columbia in the orbiter processing facility [OPF] at the Kennedy Space Center [KSC].

Image: EL-2000-00036
Source: NASA KSC
Release Date: 26-Apr-1999
Description: A new full-color, flat panel Multifunction Electronic Display Subsystem (MEDS) is shown in the cockpit of the orbiter Atlantis. It is often called the "glass cockpit." The recently installed MEDS upgrade improves crew/orbiter interaction with easy-to-read, graphic portrayals of key flight indicators like attitude display and mach speed. The installation makes Atlantis the most modern orbiter in the fleet and equals the systems on current commercial jet airliners and military aircraft. Atlantis is scheduled to fly on mission STS-101 in April 2000.

Image: KSC-99PP-0412
Source: NASA KSC
Release Date: 09-Apr-1999
Description: "Fish-eye" view of the glass cockpit on Atlantis taken during an inspection by NASA Kennedy Space Center Director Roy Bridges.

Image: JSC2000-E-10522
Source: NASA JSC
Date: March 2000
Description: Eleven new full-color, flat-panel display screens in the shuttle cockpit replace 32 gauges and electromechanical displays and four cathode-ray tube displays. The new "glass cockpit" is 75 pounds lighter and uses less power then the older model, and its color displays provide easier pilot recognition of key shuttle functions. The new cockpit is expected to be installed on all shuttles in the NASA fleet by 2002, and it sets the stage for the next cockpit improvement planned to fly in 2005: a "smart cockpit" that reduces the pilot's workload during critical periods. During STS-101, Atlantis will fly as the most updated shuttle ever, with more than 100 new modifications incorporated during a ten-month period in 1998 at Boeing's Palmdale, Calif., shuttle factory.

Image: S99-01417
Source: NASA JSC
Date: January 1999
Description: This "fish-eye" view illustrates NASA's Multifunction Electronic Display Subsystem (MEDS), otherwise known as "glass cockpit." It represents a number of important modifications that have been accomplished on the Orbiter's flight deck. This photo is actually a recent one of the fixed base Space Shuttle mission simulator in the Johnson Space Center's (JSC) Mission Simulation and Training Facility. The fixed base simulator has been outfitted with MEDS to be used by flight crews for training. The Space Shuttle Atlantis is the only Orbiter so far outfitted with MEDS and will fly with the new display system for the first time on STS-101. All of the Orbiters will eventually be outfitted with the new system, which enhances safety on the Orbiter by providing multiple backup display functions and brings the Space Shuttle cockpit displays up to date with technology that is now common in many commercial airliners.

Image: KSC-99PP-0439
Source: NASA KSC
Release Date: 26-Apr-1999
Description: The cockpit of the orbiter Atlantis is revealed with its new, full-color, flat-panel Multifunction Electronic Display System (MEDS), also called the "glass cockpit." The recently-installed MEDS upgrade improves crew/orbiter interaction with its easy-to-read, graphic portrayals of key flight indicators, such as attitude display and mach speed. MEDS makes Atlantis the most modern orbiter in the fleet and equals the systems on current commercial jet airliners and military aircraft.