@kenshirriff Most of the space shuttle was early to mid 1970s technology, like this. It was meant to fly before 1978 & save SkyLab. Dot matrix was not around, except for some heat sense printers. Daisy wheels were new, leading edge technology. Dot matrix was new, low quality & slower. Definitely didn't want mis-reading because of low print quality. Standard spec's will have required line printers. With a Motorola 6800 CPU, this was a modern printer for the shuttle.
Rubber deterioration is the bane of all old equipment, including cars & chainsaws, from personal experience.