Rebooting a 50 year old Apollo guidance computer
Discussion
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bh_gP5aF3ys
Mindblowing on two counts:
1. How they manufactured these computers in the first place and made them reliable enough to make it to the moon
2. How these guys got them working again 50 years later
Mindblowing on two counts:
1. How they manufactured these computers in the first place and made them reliable enough to make it to the moon
2. How these guys got them working again 50 years later
FurtiveFreddy said:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bh_gP5aF3ys
Mindblowing on two counts:
1. How they manufactured these computers in the first place and made them reliable enough to make it to the moon
2. How these guys got them working again 50 years later
What is actually perhaps the most interesting is that the Technology in the Apollo computers is actually simple enough to be both repairable, and well documented enough to be reverse engineer-able! As little as 5 years later, by the mid 1970's the march of the ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) pretty much renders most tech from that point onwards as "scrap" when it fails because it is realistically too small to be repairable.....Mindblowing on two counts:
1. How they manufactured these computers in the first place and made them reliable enough to make it to the moon
2. How these guys got them working again 50 years later
They've already tried mining Bitcoin on it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=26&...
It can do up to 1 hash every 10.3 seconds, which means it would take about 20 Billion years to generate one Bitcoin.
So, yeah.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=26&...
It can do up to 1 hash every 10.3 seconds, which means it would take about 20 Billion years to generate one Bitcoin.
So, yeah.
I've watched all the episodes from Curious Marc on restoring the computer, absolutely fascinating!
If you are interested in Apollo era, check out "Luna Module 5", videos on youtube.
Been watching and listening to the entire Apollo 11 mission recordings, in real time. It includes visual simulation of the spacecraft and orientation, all communication to and from the spacecraft, all the ground control controller audio loops, film and video clips, and the live press commentary. It's utterly captivating and like being there, I've just lifted off from the moon on the way home
I'm usually a bit disappointed by TV documentaries on Apollo, as they are usually a bit light on the technical detail, this tells the entire story, word for word. It's amazing that all the audio has survived.
If you are interested in Apollo era, check out "Luna Module 5", videos on youtube.
Been watching and listening to the entire Apollo 11 mission recordings, in real time. It includes visual simulation of the spacecraft and orientation, all communication to and from the spacecraft, all the ground control controller audio loops, film and video clips, and the live press commentary. It's utterly captivating and like being there, I've just lifted off from the moon on the way home
I'm usually a bit disappointed by TV documentaries on Apollo, as they are usually a bit light on the technical detail, this tells the entire story, word for word. It's amazing that all the audio has survived.
I've watched the first few of these - absolutely fascinating stuff, can't wait to see the rest.
I was slightly surprised that the thing basically worked (OK, without memory) after 40+ years, straight off the shelf. They mentioned mil-spec components, and I guess that has a lot to do with it, as well as the very robust physical construction.
Some of the team have rather impressive home labs...
I was slightly surprised that the thing basically worked (OK, without memory) after 40+ years, straight off the shelf. They mentioned mil-spec components, and I guess that has a lot to do with it, as well as the very robust physical construction.
Some of the team have rather impressive home labs...
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