{"id":28319,"date":"2020-03-06T14:54:17","date_gmt":"2020-03-06T19:54:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/?p=28319"},"modified":"2020-03-06T14:54:17","modified_gmt":"2020-03-06T19:54:17","slug":"the-apollo-guidance-computer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/2020\/03\/06\/the-apollo-guidance-computer\/","title":{"rendered":"The Apollo Guidance Computer"},"content":{"rendered":"

Wojtek Pietrusiewicz<\/a>:<\/p>\n

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As you can see, the DSKY has a black keypad with white legends, yellow indicator lights, and a green electroluminescent seven-segment display. Commands were entered numerically, as two-digit numbers — called Verb and Noun. The first one represented the action being issued, while the second represented the data that would be changed.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

He’s designed some keyboard kits<\/a> using to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11.<\/p>\n\n

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One of my goals was to use the legends and values from DSKY’s various keys and indicators, in place of traditional modifier legends. This in turn led me to a decision to use stock GMK colours, to make everything easier and more affordable.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

Ken Shirriff<\/a> (via Maxime Chevalier-Boisvert<\/a>):<\/p>\n

The Launch Vehicle Digital Computer (LVDC) had a key role in the Apollo Moon mission,\nguiding and controlling the Saturn V rocket.\nLike most computers of the era, it used core memory, storing data in tiny magnetic cores.\nIn this article, I take a close look at an LVDC core memory module from\nSteve Jurvetson’s collection<\/a>.\nThis memory module was technologically advanced for the mid-1960s, using surface-mount components, hybrid modules, and flexible connectors that\nmade it an order of magnitude smaller and lighter than mainframe core memories.\nEven so, this memory stored just 4096 words of 26 bits.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n

Previously:<\/p>\n