This panel, labeled F2, was redesigned shortly after the first flights of space shuttle Columbia.
This flight control system illuminating panel was prepared in November 1977 for possible installation on space shuttle Columbia. The panel has four markings: Pitch, Roll/Yaw, Body Flap and Spd Brk/Throt (Speed Brake/Throttle); and would have been installed on the commander's side of the flight deck controls. The push button light indicators that this panel frames would transmit crew moding requests to the digital autopilot in the flight control software. The panel has integral lighting, aiding the crew in locating the display while operating the orbiter. The lighting source consists of incandescent, grain-of-wheat lamps mounted between the metal panel face and the plastic panel overlay. The overlay has a layer of white paint and a layer of gray paint on the top surface. The panel nomenclature is formed by etching letters and symbols into the gray paint, exposing the white.
