5 ms·

The Computer Hack That Saved Apollo 14 (2017) [video]

83 points by camtarn 8y ago

Hextinium 8y ago
This is basically an article that says go watch a video by Scott Manly who is a very good communicator about space topics. He has lots of videos about various Apollo era topics and recent events that are particularly convoluted when they came out. Great resource highly recommended. https://www.youtube.com/user/szyzyg https://www.youtube.com/user/szyzyg
- rbjorklin 8y ago
  His Kerbal Space Profram videos are really good and informative! Highly recommended!
  - deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]
  - rtkwe 8y ago
    I'm sad he's stopped doing his long form KSP series a la insterstellar and only seems to post unedited livestreams of KSP these days and space news stories.
- Already__Taken 8y ago
  That's funny I skipped past this because I recognized the title and thought I'd seen scotts video it'll be better than whatever that post was. Looks like mods changed the link. He's got a great angle of pushing KSP to breaking point with his background interest in rocket science, as opposed to simply playing a lot of KSP. A shining example of what teaching with games can look like. "Things KSP doesn't teach" was a good series if anyone likes the idea but really doesn't want to put up with watching KSP.
mhandley 8y ago
If you're interested in this, I can recommend Sunburst and Luminary: An Apollo Memoir, by Don Eyles. http://www.sunburstandluminary.com/SLhome.html http://www.sunburstandluminary.com/SLhome.html It was Don who wrote the Apollo lunar module software that handled the whole landing phase, and was responsible for the hack that saved the Apollo 14 mission. The book details the whole history of the LEM software development. I particularly like the part relating to the details behind the 1201 and 1202 program alarms on Apollo 11. I hadn't realized that they actually signified the LEM computer doing a full software reboot. Not what you really want to see on a fly-by-wire spacecraft during the landing phase. This turned out to be OK because the critical tasks were restartable, as they anticipated a power glitch and really didn't want to crater if one happened at a critical momemnt.
sizzzzlerz 8y ago
Don Eyles, the programmer who devised the guidance computer patch, published a book, Sunburst and Luminary, earlier this year that provides more details on his work as a programmer for the Apollo computer while at MIT. It focuses primarily on Apollo 11 and the 1201/1202 errors it encountered during descent. He discussed the Apollo 14 fix in a 1971 article in Rolling Stone magazine.
- thestoicattack 8y ago
  Here's that Rolling Stone article: https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/don-eyles-extra-weird-looking-freak-saves-apollo-14-40737/ https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/don-eyle...

83 points by camtarn 8y ago

This is basically an article that says go watch a video by Scott Manly who is a very good communicator about space topics. He has lots of videos about various Apollo era topics and recent events that are particularly convoluted when they came out. Great resource highly recommended. https://www.youtube.com/user/szyzyg https://www.youtube.com/user/szyzyg

rbjorklin 8y ago
His Kerbal Space Profram videos are really good and informative! Highly recommended!
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
- rtkwe 8y ago
  I'm sad he's stopped doing his long form KSP series a la insterstellar and only seems to post unedited livestreams of KSP these days and space news stories.
Already__Taken 8y ago
That's funny I skipped past this because I recognized the title and thought I'd seen scotts video it'll be better than whatever that post was. Looks like mods changed the link. He's got a great angle of pushing KSP to breaking point with his background interest in rocket science, as opposed to simply playing a lot of KSP. A shining example of what teaching with games can look like. "Things KSP doesn't teach" was a good series if anyone likes the idea but really doesn't want to put up with watching KSP.

mhandley 8y ago

If you're interested in this, I can recommend Sunburst and Luminary: An Apollo Memoir, by Don Eyles. http://www.sunburstandluminary.com/SLhome.html http://www.sunburstandluminary.com/SLhome.html It was Don who wrote the Apollo lunar module software that handled the whole landing phase, and was responsible for the hack that saved the Apollo 14 mission. The book details the whole history of the LEM software development. I particularly like the part relating to the details behind the 1201 and 1202 program alarms on Apollo 11. I hadn't realized that they actually signified the LEM computer doing a full software reboot. Not what you really want to see on a fly-by-wire spacecraft during the landing phase. This turned out to be OK because the critical tasks were restartable, as they anticipated a power glitch and really didn't want to crater if one happened at a critical momemnt.

sizzzzlerz 8y ago

Don Eyles, the programmer who devised the guidance computer patch, published a book, Sunburst and Luminary, earlier this year that provides more details on his work as a programmer for the Apollo computer while at MIT. It focuses primarily on Apollo 11 and the 1201/1202 errors it encountered during descent. He discussed the Apollo 14 fix in a 1971 article in Rolling Stone magazine.

thestoicattack 8y ago
Here's that Rolling Stone article: https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/don-eyles-extra-weird-looking-freak-saves-apollo-14-40737/ https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/don-eyle...