STS-1, the first space shuttle mission, launched on April 12,
1981. At that point, the shuttle was already several years old,
and the original designs stretch back to the early 1970′s. The
shuttle then was designed using the same basic technology that
was used to go to the Moon, and while it’s been updated several
times since, it wasn’t until 2007 that the shuttle’s computer
software was updated to the point that the computers wouldn’t
require a reboot if the shuttle was in orbit over the New Year.
So the first test launch of NASA’s first new rocket in three
decades is a big deal. And today, the Ares 1-X rocket, carrying
a dummy second stage and packed with 700 sensors to gather
flight data, launched successfully from Kennedy. Watching this
brought me back to being a child and watching the shuttle launch
for the first time. I won’t say it was STS-1, because I don’t
remember. But it was an early launch, before Challenger. Earlier
this week, I heard a story on NPR about the launch of the Ares
1-X. In it, the de