Y2K + 7 : Or Why the Shuttle Isn't Supposed to Fly on 31th Dec

Quirky, Dated Computers Could Ground Space Shuttle for Months if It Had to Fly Over New Year's

By GINA SUNSERI, ABC News

HOUSTON, Dec. 5, 2006 — Forget the foam. The problem that has many at NASA scratching their heads is YERO — or year-end rollover. NASA doesn't want Discovery and its seven astronauts in space on New Year's Eve, when 2006 rolls over into 2007.

The Space Shuttle may be the most complex machine ever built (2.5 million parts). But it was designed in the 1970s, with '70s technology and '70s computers.

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