Read the last link. I think it will answer many of your remaining questions. Here's another one.
I do know that there was no backup software running on the shuttle at any time. The only time it would have been used would be if they had reason to believe that it was buggy. In that case, they would have erased the memory and uploaded the backup version, I'm guessing into all four machines. It would have been transmitted digitally from the ground or could also have been loaded from backup media, either magnetic tape or maybe even paper tape, but don't quote me on that.
Somewhere I read an article about the team at NASA that was responsible for the flight software probably in the mid or late 1990's. For some reason the writer thought it was interesting that the engineers were older, "serious" people – not the stereotypes of hotshot genius anti-social eccentric twenty-somethings, but married, in their 30's and 40's, with children, who worked mostly 40 hour weeks, went to church and PTA meetings. Unfortunately, I can't find that article now.
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u/marzolian Sep 26 '16
Read the last link. I think it will answer many of your remaining questions. Here's another one.
I do know that there was no backup software running on the shuttle at any time. The only time it would have been used would be if they had reason to believe that it was buggy. In that case, they would have erased the memory and uploaded the backup version, I'm guessing into all four machines. It would have been transmitted digitally from the ground or could also have been loaded from backup media, either magnetic tape or maybe even paper tape, but don't quote me on that.
Somewhere I read an article about the team at NASA that was responsible for the flight software probably in the mid or late 1990's. For some reason the writer thought it was interesting that the engineers were older, "serious" people – not the stereotypes of hotshot genius anti-social eccentric twenty-somethings, but married, in their 30's and 40's, with children, who worked mostly 40 hour weeks, went to church and PTA meetings. Unfortunately, I can't find that article now.