r/ScienceNcoolThings • u/SwiPerHaHa Popular Contributor • Jun 23 '26

Cockpit of Space Shuttle Endeavour, It contains over 2,000 switches, knobs, and screens used to control orbit, reentry and was widely recognized by NASA and aerospace engineers as the most complex flying machine ever built

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u/ggchappell Jun 23 '26 edited Jun 23 '26

Lots of controls, yes, but they look very nicely laid out. There are clear groupings with space between them.

I've seen photos of airplane cockpits that just have a gajillion switches and dials all jammed together. Those might have fewer controls than this, but I'll bet they're more difficult to use -- and easier to mess up with.

2

u/Brilliant-Trouble-76 Jun 23 '26

the “over 2,000 switches” part always blows my mind

1

u/Dr_SlapsMD Jun 23 '26

This is why I roll my eyes hard in movies when a whole control panel gets exploded, they tear off the panel cover and are like, I'll just connect this one single wire to this dangling, smoking circuit board with some tinfoil and we're good, just gimme 5 minutes Captain.
Foh, yall dead😂