"To MODCOMP with thanks for your contributions to the LPS and the successful launch. Many thanks from the STS-1 crew." - John Young

As this note from the crew of the first space shuttle launch implies, MODCOMP has been a key player in the space shuttle program since its initial planning. And that still holds true today! From design, to launch, to landing, MODCOMP systems monitor and control a wide variety of functions to get the space shuttle safely up on its mission and back down to earth.

MODCOMP systems play a key role in testing the major shuttle program elements located at various NASA centers throughout the U.S. MODCOMP systems provide structural testing during the building of all the space shuttle vehicles. They test the shuttle design, including the shuttle structure, its solid rocket boosters, and the onboard propulsion system.

More than 400 MODCOMP systems reside at NASA Kennedy Space Center's firing rooms, and other key facilities. As part of the Launch Processing Systems, the control, check out and monitoring subsystem - CCMS consists of MODCOMP-based computer subsystems, displays, data transmission equipment and various interface level adapters which monitor the shuttle vehicle and related ground support equipment for every launch. The stand-alone CCMS configurations include the Hypergolic Maintenance Facility, solid rocket booster set, cargo integration, test equipment, and shuttle avionics integration lab. The MODCOMP systems monitor and control the shuttle and related ground equipment until T-minus-31 seconds, when the on-board computers take over. MODCOMP computers then continue to monitor all elements of the shuttle.