Over the years I've read countless books (and watched many documentaries and movies) on the Apollo and earlier space programs...the history, technical analysis, systems, evolution in engineering, etc.
From flying the Space Shuttle Simulator it is obvious that many of the on-board and cockpit systems are a clear legacy from the Apollo era. Although upgraded and perfected over the past 30 years, it is still based on the original concepts and designs used in Apollo and similar spacecraft of the late 60s and 70s. Not that I don't think it's not working as it should, we did land on the moon several times, and there is no more beautiful a space vehicle than our trusty space shuttle. Unfortunately old is still old.
This past week I watched a video of the new Boeing 787 cockpit simulator and I was amazed (actually blown away!) on how much things have changed in the past 40 years in airplane and cockpit design. That got me thinking that, although I've read many articles on the planned future of space flight (Constellation program, etc), all of those articles described the proposed designs of launch vehicles and possible missions (lunar or otherwise). Nowhere the actual systems (guidance, navigation, control, etc) were discussed (if I did miss those articles, please point me in the right direction!). Maybe it hasn't been perfected yet, or existing systems proved to be good enough, or still in the process of development, but if aviation could completely move from steam gauges to touch screen or similar technologies in just 40 odd years, I can't help to be excited by the NextGen technology our future astronauts will and should experience in our new space vehicles!
I can only hope that the next step in space flight will truly be another giant leap!
