Reply to: Apollo Guidance computer programmed...

[TimberWolf]

Somewhere or other, I have that game on a cassette for the Commodore PET...

The trick is not to use rocket boost until the last moment, just maximum boost right at the end. This is also the most efficient way to escape a gravitational well, but at the start.

[zeitghost]

They don't make games like this any more.

Somewhere or other, I have that game on a cassette for the Commodore PET...

[TimberWolf]

They don't make games like this any more.

[Cliphead]

This is fun

Orbiter

Especially when you add this

NASSP or this AMSO

[HairyArsedBloke]

I watched the 'Moon Machines' series over the weekend (Torrent was my friend. I'd put a link to Pirate Bay, but I'm not sure if I'd get into trouble).

Ep.3 is about the guidance computer and shows pictures rope memory, little old ladies and all about 1202's etc.

There is no way that I would ever go in one of those craft. It's amazing that the death toll was a low as it was.

[AlfredJPruffock]

Does anybody believe still that the Moon landings were faked ?

And do you then think that NASA faked the Apollo 13 mission ?

And the Soviets would not have noticed the faked Moon landings ??

Oh and the moon rocks brought back by the Soviets and NASA - are remarkbly similar ?

Coincidence ?

I think not ...

[zeitghost]

http://ed-thelen.org/comp-hist/vs-mi...-guidance.html

I am fascinated to see this information on the AGC. I coded on it as part of a team from Raytheon that was under the direction of Margaret Hamilton. When I tell young programmers and developers the challenges on writing programs with little writeable memory they are quite astounded. Having to tuck integers into instruction registers in order to save space...

I recall was a Jacquard Loom in the Lab where the memory ropes were woven.

A great reminisence, that I'm delighted you're capturing.

Jacquard Loom... punched cards to weave your rope memory...

[sasguru]

Can we put your name down for the judging panel SG?

Indeed you may. I have had ample practice judging the cretins on here.

[voodooflux]

Those guy had balls alright, but then they were test pilots...

Armstrong was 200ms from death on one test flight & afterwards someone saw him calmly filling in a form about the little bit of excitement.

Ah. The 'flying bedstead' incident. He certainly was a cool cucumber.

I only recently learned that Armstrong was also an X-15 pilot, and had quite a few close calls throughout his career - including "bouncing" the X-15 off the atmosphere while attempting to descend on one occasion. According to Wikipedia he once had 2m sliced off a wing while on a mission in Korea and still managed to fly back to friendly territory, although asking him to land it was a bit much after that.

Really must pick up a copy of "The Right Stuff" - fascinating stuff.

[bogeyman]

You have to forgive DimPrawn. He's not the brightest chav in Swindon.

How do you know?

Do you imagine they have an annual competition for it? "Swindon's Brightest Chav"?

If not, I think it would make a hugely entertaining spectacle and would be a boost to Swindon's (sadly lacking) community spirit.

Can we put your name down for the judging panel SG?

[sasguru]

I annoys me tremendously that kooks and tin-foil-hatters with zero understanding of engineering and science say it never happened.

You have to forgive DimPrawn. He's not the brightest chav in Swindon.

[bogeyman]

If you wish.

******* IDIOT LYING JOURNALIST ****** TOSSERS.

MAKING tulip UP FOR MONEY.

BASTARDS.

LEAVE MY ******* INDUSTRY ALONE, YOU ARTS GRADUATE RE-*******-TARDS, BECAUSE YOU KNOW **** ALL ABOUT IT.

******* JOURNALIST winkPOT TURDS.

RESEARCH? ******* RESEARCH?

YOU WOULDN'T RECOGNISE IT IF A LIBRARIAN HIT YOU ROUND THE ******* EMPTY HEAD WITH A JANET AND ******* JOHN BOOK, YOU *****.

Mind you, I found a fib in Wikipedia, so that's nice.

That's better! Welcome back RC

[RichardCranium]

Can't you just go back to being permanently outraged?

If you wish.

******* IDIOT LYING JOURNALIST ****** TOSSERS.

MAKING tulip UP FOR MONEY.

BASTARDS.

LEAVE MY ******* INDUSTRY ALONE, YOU ARTS GRADUATE RE-*******-TARDS, BECAUSE YOU KNOW **** ALL ABOUT IT.

******* JOURNALIST winkPOT TURDS.

RESEARCH? ******* RESEARCH?

YOU WOULDN'T RECOGNISE IT IF A LIBRARIAN HIT YOU ROUND THE ******* EMPTY HEAD WITH A JANET AND ******* JOHN BOOK, YOU *****.

Mind you, I found a fib in Wikipedia, so that's nice.

[RichardCranium]

I'm not talking about LOL memory. Sorry.

No worries.

It was the unconventional use of the rope core memory term that made me think "LOL memory" was bogus. And now I can prove it.

The Jargon File (aka The Hacker's Dictionary) has only one reference to 'LOL'.

The classic Version 2.6.2, from 14 Feb 1991:

LOL laughing out loud

and the current version 4.4.7 "Search for Jargon terms" gives:

Your search - site:http://www.catb.org/jargon/ lol - did not match any documents.

'LOL memory' is bogus

[Churchill]

I'm not talking about LOL memory. Sorry.

My point was the difference between "Core Store" and what the ladies built. They literally built the ROM, bit by bit. Quite an achievement. Must've been tedious as f**k!