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If you are interested in more details of the guidance and control system of the Apollo missions, I highly recommend the book Digital Apollo by David A Mindell.
by thetruepickle2 9y ago
If you are interested in more details of the guidance and control system of the Apollo missions, I highly recommend the book Digital Apollo by David A Mindell.
Someone a while back on hackernews recommended the above book and it was absolutely fascinating and it's written remarkably well, very engaging. I am now a professional GNC engineer :) The book also delves into the gradual evolution of fly by wire flight controls starting with the X-15.
- dekhn 9y agoThis book helped explain a lot to me. I used to think that going to the moon was magic, but a lot of the stuff, like the lander module and the AGC, are straightforward implementations of the next steps from building guided missles, which the team had previously worked on. That said the fact that they had a priority-based multitasking operating system running well enough to handle data overload conditions while maintaining real-time control of a spacecraft landing on the moon, is still damn impressive.
- andyjohnson0 9y agoAn excellent book, which coincidentally I was reading last night. I'd also recommend How Apollo Flew to the Moon by W. David Woods. Don't be put off by the slightly cheesy-looking cover - it contains a lot of fascinating technical information.