Nasa boldly goes where man has been before

American space scientists, once at the cutting edge of technology on this planet and beyond, are now being forced to scrounge spare parts from cyberspace.

This is because the space shuttle, first launched in 1981, is dependent on computers that are so obsolete that the average home PC user would have junked them a long time ago. Rocket science, it seems, is not what it was.

In particular, Nasa is continually hunting for Intel 8086 chips, now regarded within the industry as being as relevant to the 21st century as the penny-farthing or silent movies.

The design is described by some irreverent spirits in the computer business as "brain damaged".

The shuttle operators also need eight-inch floppy disk drives, which were outmoded before the end of the 1970s.

Reassuringly, the scientists say that the parts are not required for the shuttles themselves, but for servicing and support equipment.

"It's like a scavenger hunt," Jeff Carr, a spokesman for the United Space Alliance, the company contracted to run the shuttle fleet, told the New York Times.

On ebay.com (apparently one of Nasa's chief stamping grounds), it was possible yesterday to find a couple of 8086 central processing units, and even an 8086 users' manual.

Bidding for one of the units was up to $7 (£5) with the manual going for $3. Funding for the American space programme is not as lavish as it once was, but it is thought these amounts would be within the budget.

However, Nasa's main concern is to buy in bulk to maintain its stockpile and prevent the possibility of a space launch being wrecked for want of an antiquated spare part.

The shuttle is due to remain in service until 2012, and there is a possibility of that being extended until 2020.