时间:2024-09-20 07:53:24 来源:网络整理编辑:休閑
From the first steps to the leap forward, Mashable is commemorating the 50th anniversary of the moon
From the first steps to the leap forward, Mashable is commemorating the 50th anniversary of the moon landing with a series that examines its significance -- and why we haven’t been back.
The Soviets launched the first satellite into space. And the first man. Also the first woman. So when NASA astronauts rapidly approached the moon 50 years ago, a lot was riding on a computer with less than 80 kilobytes of memory.
By today's standards, it's a dinosaur. The Apollo Guidance Computer (AGC) weighed 70 pounds. Programs were literally woven into the hardware by hand — it was called "core rope memory."
But it was revolutionary for its time. Back in the 1950s, when the prototype was conceived for a hypothetical mission to Mars, there weren't many tech companies NASA could turn to for help. In fact, it was the other way around.
"It was these kinds of programs that were pushing the technology that created Silicon Valley," said Philip Hattis, currently on the technical staff of the Draper Laboratory, formerly known as the MIT Instrumentation Laboratory.
The Apollo Guidance Computer and DSKY in all their glory.Credit: Draper laboratoryAs a graduate student, he worked with the MIT team that developed the AGC. The challenges were immense. In an age of massive IBM mainframes, they had to design a computer small enough to fit on a cutting-edge spaceship with a limited amount of fuel. Even today, it costs around $10,000 to put a pound of cargo into orbit.
Not only did it have to be light, the AGC needed to consume as little power as possible. It ended up needing around 70 watts — around the same as a lightbulb. And it had to be tough enough to survive the rigors of space travel.
"When you go through launch, it's shaking like crazy, you're pulling lots of Gs," Hattis explained. "So it's got to be rugged."
Building a revolutionary, lightweight, super-tough computer took a lot of time and manpower. As in the equivalent of 2,000 years of engineering labor. That meant that once the custom AGC was finally completed, some of the technology was already out of date.
There were actually two of these computers on the Apollo 11 mission: one on the Command Module that housed the astronauts during most of their journey, and one on the Lunar Module that took Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong down to the moon's surface.
The astronauts controlled the computers through the DSKY (short for “display and keyboard"), which was barely more than a numeric keypad. They had to remember which number corresponded with the "verbs" and "nouns" that made up every command. (Yes, someone made a simulator if you want to try it out. Good luck.)
SEE ALSO:50 'moon' songs to celebrate 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 lunar landingTo put its computing power into perspective, the AGC could perform around 40,000 instructions per second, according to American Scientist. That's far less than the 10 billion of a typical laptop.
This is what the astronauts used to navigate to the moon, along with a sextant.
"They could look out and see the positions of stars," Hattis said. "Based on the size of the disc of the moon or Earth, and based on the angle of certain stars relative to the surface, they could get a position fix."
And yes, plenty of people and computers were guiding them from Mission Control. But they needed to make course corrections on the fly. (There were also fears the Soviets and their lunar probe would interfere with communications.)
These days, your laptop, phone, and possibly even lightbulb or toilet have more computing power than the Apollo Guidance Computer. But this machine was efficient and totally ahead of its time. And without it the space program — and consumer technology as we know it — wouldn't have traveled nearly so far.
Ivanka Trump's unpaid interns share cringeworthy financial advice2024-09-20 07:35
申花天海官司曝光中國足球潛規則 足協政策損害青訓2024-09-20 07:01
熱刺VS西漢姆首發:凱恩孫興慜領銜 小盧卡斯出戰2024-09-20 06:51
深足雖輸球主帥仍滿意球隊拚搏 希望下場做好細節2024-09-20 06:46
Photos show the Blue Cut fire blazing a path of destruction in California2024-09-20 06:46
申花從場均1.2失球到足協杯0失球 約尼奇透露關鍵原因2024-09-20 05:49
亨利:梅西在戰術中被孤立 巴黎在踢姆巴佩的足球2024-09-20 05:34
薩拉赫夢劇場戴帽刷爆紀錄 超德羅巴成“非洲之王”2024-09-20 05:15
Fyvush Finkel, Emmy winner for 'Picket Fences,' dies at 932024-09-20 05:13
受不了了!比賽剛過60分鍾 大批曼聯球迷提前退場2024-09-20 05:07
Give your kitchen sponge a rest on this adorable bed2024-09-20 07:37
索帥下課 ?曼聯遭利物浦狂虐 紅魔球迷呼籲馬上換帥2024-09-20 06:59
媒體人:國足主場在哪不會影響比賽結果 這屆就這樣了2024-09-20 06:50
創曆史 !利物浦首次客戰5球屠曼聯 渣叔迎紅軍200勝2024-09-20 06:50
There's a big piece of fake chicken stuck to this phone case2024-09-20 06:46
十佳球:維尼修斯單騎闖關 多特天才演淩波微步2024-09-20 06:23
國足若出國作戰首選仍是沙迦 本周將落實主場問題2024-09-20 06:00
梅西巴黎生涯7戰5中柱 說明書就在眼前波帥卻不看2024-09-20 05:53
The Weeknd teases new music in Instagram post2024-09-20 05:32
海港主帥:3個進球讓我很滿意 賀慣還需進一步檢查2024-09-20 05:19