if all goes according to plan, columbia, this nation's first space shuttle will fly like a skylark next march. >> if the shuttle program works like it's supposed to work, it will be a tech nulogical marvel like that of the moon. >> a space shuttle. new systems, new technology. fly by wear system. you don't have pulleys and cables, all done by electronics, all by commands coming through a computer. >> built as the world's first reusable spaceship, carrying satellites and scientists. >> the most important thing was the digital revolution of faster, more powerful computers with complex software. >> computers are absolutely necessary to fly a spacecraft like the shuttle. it's the most sophisticated, most complex system that has been put into space yet.