Where results make sense

About us   |   Why use us?   |   Reviews   |   PR   |   Contact us

Apollo Guidance Computer -- Facts, Info, and Encyclopedia article   (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-08) The AGC was controlled by a 2.048 (One million periods per second) MHz (A crystalline element used as a component in various electronic devices) crystal (A timepiece that shows the time of day) clock. The AGC had four 16-bit ((computer science) memory device that is the part of computer memory that has a specific address and that is used to hold information of a specific kind) registers for general computational use. The ((computer science) a program that controls a display for the user (usually on a computer monitor) and that allows the user to interact with the system) user interface unit was called the (display/keyboard); an array of numerals and a (A small machine that is used for mathematical calculations) calculator-style keyboard. www.absoluteastronomy.com /encyclopedia/a/ap/apollo_guidance_computer.htm   (4506 words)

Apollo Guidance Computer (AGC) The Apollo guidance computer (AGC) is a real-time digital-control computer whose conception and development took place in the early part of 1960. This class of computer is representative of most of the ground-based digital computers in existence in the late 1950s, when the precursers of the AGC were being designed. As a control computer, some of the major functions are: alignment of the inertial measurement unit, processing of radar data, management of astronaut display and controls and generation of commands for spacecraft engine control. klabs.org /history/history_docs/mit_docs/agc.htm   (1605 words)

Block I Apollo Guidance Computer (AGC): How to build one in your basement The AGC is the flight computer for the Apollo moon landings, with one unit in the command module and one in the LEM. The AGC is the most interesting early computer because: it flew the first men to the moon and has interesting architectural features. Apollo Guidance Computer Documents: A collection of documents courtesy of MIT. klabs.org /history/build_agc   (343 words)

Embedded system - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia The first recognizably modern embedded system was the Apollo Guidance Computer, developed by Charles Stark Draper at the MIT Instrumentation Laboratory. The first mass-produced embedded system was the guidance computer for the Minuteman missile in 1961. It was the Autonetics D-17 guidance computer, built using discrete transistor logic and a hard disk for main memory. en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Embedded_system   (4472 words)

The Apollo Guidance Computer (AGC) When the guidance and navigation function is to be restored, the IMU and AGC are reactivated, with the AGC using the last computed velocity as the basis for further velocity computations. AGC positioning commands are applied to a digital-to-analog converter, converted to a representative analog signal, and applied to a motor drive amplifier in the SXT. The AGC determines the spacecraft attitude by monitoring the ICDUs, and computes the angles necessary to drive the optics to the desired target. rocinante.colorado.edu /%7Ewilms/computers/apollo.html   (11554 words)

Clavius: Technology - computers The Apollo guidance computer had the computer power equivalent only to today's kitchen appliances, far less than what would be required to go to the moon. In the real guidance computer the guidance program does none of that; the pilot flips a switch and the corresponding computer "bit" is set or cleared in the computer's memory by the switch electronics. Recall that the Apollo computer was not a general purpose computer. www.clavius.org /techcomp.html   (1780 words)

Ch2-5 The story of memory in the Apollo computer is a story of increasing size as mission requirements developed. Apollo's computer used erasable merry cells to store intermediate results of calculations, data such as the location of the spacecraft, or as registers for logic operations. In Apollo, they also contained the data and routines needed to ready the computer for use when it was first turned on. www.hq.nasa.gov /office/pao/History/computers/Ch2-5.html   (2359 words)

Computer History Museum - Exhibits - Collection Highlights - Apollo Guidance Computer In 1968, the Apollo Guidance Computer (AGC) made its debut orbiting the earth on Apollo 7. Astronauts communicated with the computer by punching two-digit codes and the appropriate syntactic category into the display and keyboard unit. The Apollo project, and in particular its computer, was a major impetus to the development and improved manufacturability of integrated circuitry (IC). www.computerhistory.org /exhibits/highlights/apollo.shtml   (159 words)

M.I.T. Apollo Guidance Computer The Apollo Guidance Computer (AGC) was built by Raytheon and used approximately 4000 discrete integrated circuits from Fairchild Semiconductor. As every module in the AGC was "potted," that is, dipped in a waterproof epoxy compound to protect it in space, there was great pressure on the software team to be especially dedicated to error-free development. Computationally, the AGC was behind contemporary technology by the time of Apollo 11, but this is a common feature of space programs that have multi-year timetables and systems of extreme complexity. ed-thelen.org /comp-hist/vs-mit-apollo-guidance.html   (1356 words)

ipedia.com: Apollo Guidance Computer Article   (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-08) The other computer was a small machine in the lunar module used for the Abort Guidance System (AGS; built by TRW), to be used in the event of failure of the AGC. It's not widely known, but the PGNC System malfunctioned during the first lunar descent, with the AGC showing a "1201 alarm" and "1202 alarm" (tasks not finished) because the rendezvous (docking) radar was left on when the software wasn't expecting it, and maximum-rate error pulses from its shaft and trunnion axes overloaded the CPU. The AGC software failed safe, shedding low-priority tasks and prompting Neil Armstrong to shift to a more manually controlled mode, and the inertial guidance tasks continued to operate reliably. www.ipedia.com /apollo_guidance_computer.html   (3620 words)

Virtual AGC Home Page The AGC was the principal onboard computer for NASA's Apollo missions, including all of the lunar landings. The result is a computer model of the AGC which is itself capable of executing the original Apollo software on (for example) a desktop PC. Prior to the descent of Apollo 14's LM to the lunar surface, a short in the LM control panel caused the abort switch to be triggered intermittently. www.ibiblio.org /apollo   (5043 words)

AGC - AGC Project Home Page The Apollo Guidance Computer (AGC) provided reliable real-time control for the Apollo spacecraft that carried US astronauts to the moon, 1969-1972. The AGC was significant for its tight coupling of human and machine, its early use of integrated circuits, and its reliable, mission critical software. The history of the AGC project provides a window into the history of technology in America during the space race and the Cold War. hrst.mit.edu /hrs/apollo/public   (256 words)

NASM Space Artifacts: Apollo Guidance Computer, Block I The "Block I" Apollo Guidance Computer represented the initial design by the MIT Instrumentation Laboratory to meet NASA specifications for on-board Guidance, Navigation, and Control needed for a Lunar Mission. The result was the designation of "Block I" to the computers of the original design, and "Block II" to the later design that was installed on the Command and Lunar Modules that carried human beings. Block I computers played a transitional role in Apollo, and as such are of secondary importance to their successors that were used in manned missions. www.nasm.si.edu /research/dsh/artifacts/GC-ApolloBlock1.htm   (489 words)

Articles - Central processing unit   (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-08) During the height of electromechanical and electronic computers, electrical relays and vacuum tubes (thermionic valves) were commonly used as switching elements. In 1964, IBM introduced its System/360 computer architecture, which was used in a series of computers that could run the same programs with different speed and performance. These newer concerns are among the many factors causing researchers to investigate new methods of computing such as the quantum computer as well as expand the usage of parallelism and other methods that extend the usefulness of the classical Von Neumann model. www.seekj.com /articles/Central_processing_unit   (3097 words)

Apollo Computer (1960)   (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-08) This is the type of computer that went to the moon in the Apollo missions from 1969 to 1972. There was one computer in the Lunar Excursion Module (LEM) and one the mothership (CM) circling above. It was the first use of integrated circuits, as still displayed in the timeline cabinet to the left. www-db.stanford.edu /pub/voy/museum/pictures/display/0-2-Apollo.htm   (113 words)

The Apollo Guidance Computer (AGC) The guidance and navigation (GandN) system measures spacecraft attitude and velocity, determines trajectory, controls spacecraft attitude, controls the thrust vector of the service propulsion engine, and provides abort information and display data. The input section consists of four registers which enable inter- communication between the AGC and the other GandN subsystems, the stabilization and control system, the mission sequencer, the S-IVB guidance, and MSFN. Output 0 Register Provides the transmission link from the AGC to the DSKYs by control of 14 banks of relays which provide display of data and routing of control signals to the ISS, OSS, and SCS. www.apollosaturn.com /gnc.htm   (10716 words)

MoonSchool.com - DSKY Computer   (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-08) The Apollo guidance computer was called the DSKY, which was short for "Display/Keyboard." It would not be recognized as a computer by today's standards, but it had an elegant interface that was very intuitive. The Raytheon Corporation had the contract, and the MIT Instrumentation Lab designed the small unit, where most computers of the day occupied a good sized room. This is the interface part of the computer; the processing unit was about the size of a suitcase. www.africa-usa.com /moonschool/dsky.htm   (184 words)

The Tech Report - Man constructs replica of Apollo guidance computer   (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-08) The New York Times has a fun story about John Poltorak, who spent his free time the last few years building a reconstruction of the guidance computer used in the Apollo space missions: The AGC is a piece of computing history. By contrast, typical desktop computers today have about 1,000 times the processor speed and about 500,000 times the RAM, and have dropped ROM for hard drives with millions of times the capacity. 205.177.13.145 /sendto_friend.x/7956   (184 words)

DDJ>2001   (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-08) The 650 was the first computer on which IBM made a meaningful profit. It was also one of the first computers to capture the hearts and minds of professional programmers. But convincing IBM's old guard that an "electronic brain" had commercial potential was a battle in itself. www.ddj.com /columns/history/2001/0101hc/0101hc001.htm   (577 words)

operatingsystem.ca - Computer History   (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-08) British Computer Society Membership Hits 50,000 as IT Sector Clamours for Professional Recognition. A twenty per cent upsurge in membership in just over 12 months - the largest in its near 50 year history - has been repor... The Silicon Valley-based Computer History Museum, which has recently announced that it received a $15 million gift from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to help preserve the history of computing, has debuted its latest... www.operatingsystem.ca /Computer-History/all/search   (203 words)

The Apollo Guidance Computer (AGC)   (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-08) Virtual AGC offers a software emulator for the AGC. Chapter 7 of Computer Structures: Readings and Examples by Gordon Bell, a case-study of the AGC. diagram showing the AGC in the middle section of the control panel. www.iwriteiam.nl /Ha_Apollo.html   (93 words)

AddALL.com - Journey to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Guidance Computer AddALL.com - Journey to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Guidance Computer Journey to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Guidance Computer If you cannot find this book in our new and in print search, be sure to try our used and out of print search too! www3.addall.com /detail/156347185X.html   (72 words)

Engineer builds Apollo Guidance Computer in his basement - Engadget - www.engadget.com Engineer builds Apollo Guidance Computer in his basement Sure, you can build an elaborate-but-bogus box like The Big Red Button (of Doom) and get some props from your crew. But for real hardcore cred, try building a fully functional replica of NASA’s 1964 prototype for the Apollo Guidance Computer. www.engadget.com /entry/1234000327029350   (932 words)

Part1 - The Gemini Digital Computer: First Machine in Orbit - The Gemini Digital Computer: First Machine in Orbit. Evolution of the hardware: Old technology versus new block I and Block I designs www.hq.nasa.gov /office/pao/History/computers/Part1.html   (49 words)

Try your search on: Qwika (all wikis)

About us   |   Why use us?   |   Reviews   |   Press   |   Contact us   Copyright © 2005-2007 www.factbites.com Usage implies agreement with terms.