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He overcame some computer problems as he landed the Lunar Module as well. His experience, knowledge, and sheer courage were amazing. http://www.doneyles.com/L
by gvb 14y ago
He overcame some computer problems as he landed the Lunar Module as well. His experience, knowledge, and sheer courage were amazing.
http://www.doneyles.com/LM/Tales.html http://www.doneyles.com/LM/Tales.html
ABSTRACT: The Apollo 11 mission succeeded in landing on the moon despite two computer-related problems that affected the Lunar Module during the powered descent. An uncorrected problem in the rendezvous radar interface stole approximately 13% of the computer's duty cycle, resulting in five program alarms and software restarts. In a less well-known problem, caused by erroneous data, the thrust of the LM's descent engine fluctuated wildly because the throttle control algorithm was only marginally stable.
- runjake 14y agoThis story was mentioned in the penultimate paragraph.
- eridius 14y agoThat paragraph only said the Eagle was heading towards some boulders. It didn't explain why. In any case, as was said in the antepenultimate paragraph, it seems Neil Armstrong really was the right man for the lunar landing.
- kqr2 14y agoFor those in the San Francisco Bay Area, the Computer History Museum actually has one of the prototypes for the Apollo Guidance Computer: http://www.computerhistory.org/VirtualVisibleStorage/artifact_frame.php?tax_id=03.02.04.00 http://www.computerhistory.org/VirtualVisibleStorage/artifac...
- Wingman4l7 14y agoThese were the infamous "1201" and "1202" alarms, explained here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Garman#1202 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Garman#1202 Jack Garman's handwritten quick-reference list of the program alarms, which was under the Plexiglas on his mission control console during the landing : http://klabs.org/mapld05/pics/invited/garman_4.jpg http://klabs.org/mapld05/pics/invited/garman_4.jpg