NASA HISTORY: Atlantis Space Shuttle Launches From Kennedy Space Center In 2000

By  //  May 19, 2018

Launched May 19, 2000

ABOVE VIDEO: STS-101 (Atlantis) lit up the early hours when it launched on this day in 2000 at 6:11 am ET from Kennedy Space Center.

MAY 19, 2000 – STS-101 (Atlantis) lit up the early hours when it launched on this day in 2000 at 6:11 am ET from Kennedy Space Center.

During the 10-day mission, the crew prepared the International Space Station (ISS) for a full time crew that would arrive later that year.

STS-101 was the first shuttle mission to fly with a “glass cockpit.”

During a 10-month overhaul, Atlantis was the first of the orbiters to be equipped with a modern “smart” cockpit. The panel in front of the commander and pilot was re-equipped with 11 full color flat-panel displays in place of the 4 cathode ray tubes, electromechanical displays, and 32 gauges.

Like modern aircraft, all of those new flat-panel displays earned the nickname “glass cockpit.”

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