who flew the space shuttle - human, or computer?

[Machine_Elf]

My understanding has always been that computers flew the space shuttle through the early phase of reentry, when a very specific attitude sequence had to be maintained in order to scrub off orbital speed without roasting the wrong parts of the vehicle. But I had always thought that a human pilot (acting on all sorts of visual aids presented to him on the HUD) provided manual inputs to a joystick and was responsible for controlling the vehicle in the final few minutes before touchdown.

Or have I got that wrong? Did computers normally fly the shuttle from orbit all the way to a dead stop on the runway, and the designated pilot was there just in case the computer suffered a meltdown?

[Leaffan]

I heard it was the latter. The shuttle flew and landed itself, but obviously could be overridden.

Columbia was switched to manual mode seconds before shattering.

[aNewLeaf]

Wikicite:

Almost the entire Space Shuttle re-entry procedure, except for lowering the landing gear and deploying the air data probes, was normally performed under computer control. However, the re-entry could be flown entirely manually if an emergency arose. The approach and landing phase could be controlled by the autopilot, but was usually hand flown.