3 ms·
In the 1980's the backup flight control software for landing the space shuttle ran on a HP-41 calculator, though they never had to use it AFAIK, with the multip
by stevenwoo 8y ago
In the 1980's the backup flight control software for landing the space shuttle ran on a HP-41 calculator, though they never had to use it AFAIK, with the multiple redundant onboard computers.
- srcmap 8y agoLove to study those projects in more details - Not just the code, but also the design, testing, validation processes.
- blub 8y agoThat's not what I found online: the devices running customized SW were apparently used as personal calculators by the crew and they would have also used them for manual calculation in case their flight computer had a problem. They weren't connected to other shuttle computers, were they?
- stevenwoo 8y agoI found multiple stories/blogs with recollections like this one from Smithsonian including the use of calculators on early missions before laptops were used: https://airandspace.si.edu/collection-objects/calculator-hand-held-hp-41 https://airandspace.si.edu/collection-objects/calculator-han... I remembered reading it in the newspapers at the time which would have probably make the reports generally pre internet (or pre newspapers on the internet) in the 1980's. Of course I could be remembering it wrong or it could have been a HP calculator ad.