Apollo Guidance Computer and DSKY Man-Machine Interface. Photo credit : CHM
Apollo 11 launched astronauts to the Moon and back in July of 1969, an amazing achievement in itself, and I was captivated by how they accomplished this.
The story lies in the Apollo Guidance Computer (AGC), which was used to navigate the spacecraft. Even though the AGC contained only 4 kilobytes of RAM and 72 kilobytes of read-only memory (ROM), according to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, it was sufficient to enable the Apollo 11 mission by guiding it through the Earth’s orbit, to the Moon, supporting the lunar landing, and guiding it back to Earth.
When one thinks about the AGC, it is hard to comprehend how the technology available in the late 1960s compares to the powerful processors and massive amounts of cloud storage that we use today.
The AGC had none of these things; it was simply a highly engineered and purposefully built piece of equipment that accomplished its goals effectively.
NASA’s records of achievements point out that Apollo 11 may have been one of the most complex engineering projects of all time, especially given the limitations in computing technology at the time.
The main point is that it was not about raw power but rather about extreme computational efficiency, precision, simplicity and talented people who understood exactly what needed to be done.
Under Margaret Hamilton’s leadership, she and her team implemented only what was absolutely necessary in the most efficient manner possible and nothing more.
Sometimes when you are boxed in by limitations, you come up with truly creative solutions.
References
NASA. (2015, April 17). Apollo 11 mission overview.NASA History Office.
Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. (n.d.). Computer, Apollo guidance, Block l
