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 the way it's designed to, it will be a technological feat marveling that of the trip to the moon. >> the space shuttle had new systems, new technology. fly by wire system. you don't have pulleys and cables, all done by electronics, all the commands go 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.