Shuttle Avionics Integration Laboratory

The Shuttle Avionics Integration Laboratory (SAIL) was a facility at Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, US.

It supported the entire Space Shuttle program to perform integrated verification tests.

The testing process is extensive and rigorous; the software on the Shuttle is often considered to be among the most bug-free of operational systems.

NASA personnel who have been assigned to SAIL testing include Charlie Bolden (former NASA Administrator), Michael Coats (former Director at JSC NASA), Brewster Shaw (Boeing Vice President of Space Exploration Division) and Al Crews (selected as an astronaut for the X-20 Dyna-Soar).The first SAIL commander was James E. Westom of Rockwell International, retired Major USAF.

He flew the Approach and Landing phase in SAIL before Space Shuttle Enterprise was launched off the top of the NASA C-747 airplane to prove it could fly on its own in the atmosphere.