Apollo Guidance Computer Part 10: Mike flies Apollo 11’s P63, lunar landing, on his AGC replica

Mike Stewart flies Apollo 11 P63, lunar landing, using his new AGC monitor and his gate-exact AGC replicas. This episode is made possible by our sponsor PCBWay (www.pcbway.com..., right now celebrating their 5th Anniversary, 5000 sets gifts+ free coupons giveway+ lucky draw!).
The AGC monitor replica, a key piece of AGC ground test equipment used by MIT for debugging the AGC, has been built in preparation for our upcoming next encounter with the real AGC.
Mike's FPGA AGC code and board project files are available online:
AGC FPGA Replica:
github.com/the...
AGC FPGA Test Monitor:
github.com/the...
Bonus: AGC Verilog Simulation
github.com/vir...
Some relevant links:
Playlist of the restoration series: • Apollo Guidance Comput...
Block I AGC period documentary: • MIT Science Reporter-"...
Inertial navigation system documentary: • Video
Schematics: www.ibiblio.or...
and: archive.org/de...
Mike's AGC backplane viewer: apolloguidance....
AGC software repo: github.com/vir...
The Ultimate Apollo Guidance Computer Talk: • 34C3 - The Ultimate A...

[@JulieanGalak]

"Capcom, we are go for powered descent" literally sent chills down my spine. What an amazing video.

[@nickkapirnas]

The inclusion of the appropriate moments in the flight recording was fantastic! I'm loving this whole series, I can't wait to see the real AGC running!

[@heatshield]

Old Raytheon engineers are proud of you and happy to see this.

[@bradleystach6275]

New Raytheon engineers are also proud of you and happy to see this! ;)

[@soulrobotics]

I would like to see a meeting with Raytheon old and new engineers and Marc team, talking about the significance of this Marc adventure. I would like to invite you in a big BBQ here in the sunny Alicante, but i think it is more practical to do it at Raytheon facilities. Raytheon guys,what do you think about!, huh?

[@CuriousMarc]

@@soulrobotics We'd sure would love to get more from the Raytheon people that were involved in this. They have not been celebrated enough.

[@TheRealColBosch]

This whole series has been jaw-droppingly awesome, but to see Mike and you demonstrating what Armstrong and Aldrin were doing *in sync with the actual Apollo 11 recordings* is just...I'm sorry, words fail me.

[@lm4278]

Seriously. This entire series needs to be made into a full fledged documentary.

[@tedvanmatje]

Bloody hell...Mike's a clever lad! This whole series is just jaw-droppingly awesome on so many levels. Thankyou for doing what you guys do :)

[@2degucitas]

He looks like he isn't even 30 years old yet. For him to comprehend and work with this old tech is amazing to watch. I would LOVE to see original cap com techs brought in to interact with this and the real AGC.

[@nobytes2]

@@2degucitas He either looks super young and is around 30ish, or he's mid 20s. Either way he's a brilliant engineer.

[@luthmhor]

Mike is a legit genius, as are the rest of the crew!

[@tylertuthill5121]

Mike, you're a goddamn genius. You make my brain feel like potato.

[@fostercathead]

My brain is potato.

[@BixN00dI488]

You guys are all genius, but Mike is absolutely brilliant!

[@AlainHubert]

If I ever wanted to go to the Moon with the original 1969 equipment, I would trust you guys to do it. Mike is incredible: he sends satellites into orbit, and has the time and knowledge to do this also ? This is almost as exciting as witnessing the real events, some 50 years ago. Can't wait for the next video ! Thanks for sharing and all your hard work you guys.

[@MarkAMMarrk]

So cool! Best episode so far. I feel like I'm weightless and maneuvering!

[@TheFleetz]

Mike is on another planet! Amazing....well done Mike.👍

[@FesixGermany]

Mike is such an adorable human being. And I'm sure he is not even using 100% of his brain power.

[@alpcns]

This is SO awesome, incredible, fantastic! For the first time in decades, watching this brilliant young man and his colleagues do what he does (and do it well) gives me hope for the future. This entire series deserves an award. Absolutely fan-tas-tic! Thank you so much for sharing this monumental stuff with us!

[@Zone1242]

This is hands down my favorite series on KZbin - amazing work guys! Looking forward to the next thrilling episode!

[@alansmithee183]

No doubt about it...Mike is a Steely-Eyed Missile Man!

[@dvatp]

Really one of the best video series on YT. The reverse engineering on this project is extremely impressive. Kudos to all involved.

[@Tedd755]

This is incredible stuff, not only for the feat of engineering you guys pulled to reverse engineer the AGC, but also to see the computer working as it did, in real time. The speed of the computer is apparent in the simulation!

[@joesitter20101]

This is wonderful guys. I was 13 when I watched the Apollo series flights. In fact, I sat on my mother's lap when I was 4, watching John Glen's flight and I still remember it.

[@delicious_lunch3823]

Good lord, Mike (and the rest of you, but dang!) are such an inspiration. I wholeheartedly believe that this may be the best video on KZbin.

[@jwingo7257]

Amazing...I don’t understand 99% of what you’re doing but absolutely appreciate that you can recreate the awesome technological feat 50 years ago. I only wish we, as a country, could get past our non-stop bickering and do great things in the greatest constitutional fee market republic in the history of humankind!

[@38911bytefree]

Mike is out of this world !!!!!. Brilliant.

[@oldblokeh]

An astonishingly good video. I was 15 years old when Apollo 11 landed and watched it on a black and white television. Your inclusion of sound recordings from the flight made it so evocative.

[@scowell]

My parents made a point of taking us to a neighbor's house (they had color!)... and turned out the telecast was B&W... would have been better at home. I was 10 at the time.

[@keithglaysher737]

With "We don't have the technology anymore" words ringing around in my head I think with the magnificent work you guys are doing is a fantastic achievement for this century & a great way to debunk the debunkers! Absolutely brilliant guys!

[@davidkilpatrick1640]

Another amazing video in this series. Thankyou Marc!

[@AdrianChallinor]

As someone who stayed up late at night in the UK to watch this, and I have seen the replay many times, this is awesome. The explanations here are first rate, Guys, well done. No, seriously, if I ever bump in to you, the beers are on me.

[@CuriousMarc]

I knew we’d get something out of this!

[@vincentcol5182]

Man landed on the moon for my first birthday, so all this project has a special meaning for me. Congrats and thanks.

[@jeffkleist9679]

I just want to thank you all every single person that’s made this happen through financial, technical, academic support restoring this holy artifact. Thank you to the owner for allowing it and making sure this happens. Thank you

[@timcurran7841]

Hi guys, forgot to add, the timing of this video was incredible seeing as how I’m reading Don Eyles book Sunburst and Luminary on programming P63, P64 the Lunar Landing software at MIT in the sixties (which I highly recommend). You made it come alive! Keep up the great work and I can’t wait to see P64 run and give us the LPD angles!

[@theowinters6314]

A simulated AGC being monitored by simulated ground equipment, but connected to each other through real hardware. There's something amazing about that.

[@sadiqmohamed681]

This project is amazing. I was 18 at the time and about to start working for the BBC as a trainee engineer. I stayed up to watch the coverage of the landing, so I listened to this in real time! It is an extraordinare dry job you guys are doing to resurrect this ancient hardware, and show us how you are doing it. Well done.

[@EthanRDoesMC_]

5:42 I love that you can hear the amazement in his voice

[@mimsnshine]

Outstanding technical prowess and beautiful teaching skills to help understand this incredibly brilliant piece of technological history.

[@mb5058]

Such an amazing team of talented engineers. Thanks Marc for filming it for us.

[@cptcrogge]

Simply amazing! KZbinr "Fran Blanche" designed a few days ago shirts with the DSKY :D

[@sheep1ewe]

As i remeber She also did an analysis on a modul from the later integrated Apollo program cheramic circuit boards.

[@Wizardofgosz]

Saw that. Might have to get one of those.

[@RichardFrost]

Curious Marc I beseech you reach out to Fran Blanche from FranLabs KZbin channel to do something together. Fran has been working on an rebuilt replica DSKY display for years - using the same tech used by NASA. You should do some joint projects with her. She does amazing old-tech videos

[@Wizardofgosz]

@@RichardFrost Ben Krasnow (Applied Science) already did it. Fran was years away from completion at best. Also, in another video's comments section, they mentioned having already reached out to her.

[@Wizardofgosz]

@@RichardFrost kzbin.info/www/bejne/kGPSkIamZ5KUeNE

[@TimoNoko]

"1202 alarm" could and should be a thing. Meaning all my task slots are occupied and I need to restart.

[@kbabioch]

Yeah, should be a meme.

[@clomb1234]

Really impressive work. A great series of videos. Thank you.

[@afriedli]

So pleased you guys are interested enough in this stuff to go to so much trouble! Much respect to the scientists, engineers and intrepid explorers of that generation, and much respect to you as well.

[@ReneSchickbauer]

A new AGC video. Day saved!

[@ian_i.o.m495]

I haven't a clue what yous are on about but for some reason I love it.

[@rot_studios]

Recreating history over there! This is one of the coolest things I've seen on KZbin for sure! This series has so many great bits already, big applause to all of you for putting so much time and effort into sharing this with the world.

[@freshlysquosen]

Some of the best Space LARPing I've ever seen.

[@johncloar1692]

Grate video! I remember when Apollo 11 landed on the moon and how it was a cliff hanger then. Every one watch it on TV.

[@stevec00ps]

This is just such a great series of videos, well done! :)

[@guywilkinson]

Utterly brilliant and can't wait to see the sequel running on a real AGC. Speaking as an aerospace engineer, I found the whole thing rather moving, I hope one day something like this ends up somewhere public where I can actually see it..... showing a moon landing :-)

[@MVVblog]

You all are my heroes !

[@whatchacookin1096]

Incredible. Absolutely brillant work and demonstration.

[@_a.z]

Watching this live inspired me for a life in electronics!

[@timcurran7841]

This is the coolest series. Congratulations to all. You guys are awesome!

[@stephan.scharf]

I don't know what you are doing guys, but this is AMAZING, AMAZING, AMAZING!!!

[@MikeMcDonoughUS]

Amazing work! Can't wait to see this project when completed.

[@VegasCyclingFreak]

This has been a fascinating series to follow.

[@musicmakelightning]

First of all - outstanding, inspiring work. I was wondering how you would recreate the 1202 and 1201 alarms. In any case absolutely amazing. It also highlights the esoterica with which the astronauts had to be completely familiar. Those guys were used to standard analog cockpit dials and gadgets. To us, in a digital world, it seems oddly cumbersome but understandable. To them it must have been like learning hieroglyphics. I saw Neil Armstrong some years back at Flint center giving a talk ( you guys probably did too ) and he remarked about how primitive those systems were compared to what we have now. But seeing what you guys are going through it seems anything but primitive. I always wondered what gave us the gumption with 1960s era tech to think we could make it to the moon and back, but seeing your work brings clear how advanced we were even then - using what we had at hand to the maximum of human ability. No wonder we made it. Your work is amazing and inspiring. Makes me want to go out and try something new. Hope it does to others as well. Thanks. Joe

[@ewetoo]

Awesome stuff as always. Hardcore fun, building the toys we'd all love to play with :D

[@dr.strangelove5622]

I tell you Curious Marc that I love your videos sooooo much!!!! They inspire me to learn more about computers, and maybe make few.

[@VioletRene]

Awesome project guys! Please keep these videos coming! ❤️👍

[@njphilwt]

This is awesome. Thanks for doing this, guys!

[@guzf344]

I just love your channel Marc. Thank you.

[@bobl78]

the AGC technology deeply impresses me every time... if I think how crappy other technology was back in these days, it´s a miracle what they achieved with the AGC... Apollo technology was far ahead of the rest of the world around it

[@agent1174]

The mind boggles at Mikes abilities with a confuser

[@7cle]

AvE reference.

[@douglasbuck2359]

This is the absolute pinnacle of geekdom!

[@Kae6502]

You guys are awesome!, I'm breathing again , Thanks a lot!

[@dks13827]

Terrific stuff !! Thank you.

[@joao.henrique]

thank you very much for your effort :) amazing!

[@givemeakawasaki]

very very cool guys! thanks for this!

[@colinstu]

Amazing work

[@paultraynorbsc627]

Brilliant thanks for posting

[@heatshield]

Beautiful.

[@hayeslewis]

thank you for doing this project

[@lowmipsdotcom7383]

Great series!

[@SomeGuyInSandy]

This is a really entertaining video! Bravo!

[@youreale]

Amazing work guys!!!

[@krishnanunni6347]

I've been waiting for this

[@spearfish]

Mike is one smart dude

[@chriholt]

I am geeking hard!

[@Damien.D]

This is basically plotting a maneuver node, and letting this MechJeb ancestor do the burn. But it's a bit sad to watch this poor AGC-in-a-jar complaining of not having an engine... :(

[@nmccw3245]

Damien Drouart - Half a century later it is still trying to fly.

[@Songbirdstress]

@@nmccw3245 I think the quality of the parts is jaw dropping. They basically still work with a bit of sprucing up. The only problem is with what was a known design fault at the time. The joke used to be that my first computer, though rubbish, was way better than what got men to the moon, well, no, the AGC is awesome, even by today's standards.

[@ydonl]

For the Tektronix nerds, and for the HP nerds taking a break from their usual excitement... At 1:12 is what I think is a Tektronix RM503 in the rack in the background. Made of shiny glass tubes filled with non-air, differential inputs, 450kHz bandwidth (woo hoo!), and configured especially for X-Y mode. Apparently, according to TekWiki, the low bandwidth made it less sensitive to various noise and interference, so it was easy to concentrate on your (low bandwidth) signals.

[@Stoney3K]

When you can feed it IMU data, please simulate the entire mission in Kerbal Space Program!

[@technicalvault]

You’d need the realism mod, KSP’s regular physics sim isn’t accurate enough. I recall that someone plugged yaAGC into Orbiter a few years back though.

[@kurtfrancis4621]

The 3 individuals thumbing this down need to be shipped on a non-return trajectory towards the sun.

[@Wizardofgosz]

Turns out this is a very difficult thing to do.

[@noth606]

Richard Wielgosz We have Mike ;-) we're good.

[@Wizardofgosz]

@@noth606 I was replying to K Francis.

[@noth606]

Richard Wielgosz And I was commenting on your publicly available comment to him, are you new to YT? Do you think it's a private conversation?

[@Wizardofgosz]

@@noth606 No, but I have no idea what people mean when they say things and when we often have no idea to whom and what they're replying to. I'm lost right now. Are you new to the awful comment threading on YT? I ran an MSDOS BBS in the 80s that had better comment threading, so you actually knew who was replying to what, and whom.

[@glenwoofit]

Great Job Guys!

[@mattelderca]

I remember very well, playing with those switches for hours! I lived near the Ontario Science Centre in Toronto and spent hours in all of the Apollo mockups they had. IIRC they were the real thing, Wonder where all that stuff is now?

[@cookingwithjesus]

mattelderca they rotate from museum to museum. Kansas cosmosphere probably has them.

[@iNerdier]

Please tell me you’re getting a reproduction Apollo display from Applied Science's (Ben’s) last video to hook up to this thing!

[@Mythricia1988]

Ben made the specifically for this, I believe. So they should have it hooked up sometime hopefully not too far into the future!

[@sietuuba]

@@Mythricia1988 Correct!

[@GreatSeaSpider]

*goosebumps*

[@kevinreardon2558]

Keep up the research.

[@P61guy61]

Stellar!

[@wisanu99]

Am I understanding this correctly? At 2:30, both of those boards, one side is the AGC, and the other side is the tester, which back in the day, both are huge, but here are shrunken down to just these 2 things.

[@CuriousMarc]

That’s correct!

[@jackdaniels8898]

Mind blown. Incredible work here. Looking forward to additional videos Please check out the BBC podcast “13 Minutes to the Moon”. It is a wonderful documentary on what happened from the moment Eagle undocked to the point it touched down on the lunar surface. As well as all that went into making Apollo 11 a success. The AGC plays a prominent part within the series.

[@soniclab-cnc]

brilliant !

[@Wizardofgosz]

Will you be able to hook Carl's DSKY to the software AGC so you can touch real hardware buttons instead of having to use the mouse?

[@johndododoe1411]

It's not a software AGC, it's a tiny hardware AGC that isn't radiation hardened. It's the board between the tiny switch panel and the new debug interface.

[@slick4401]

Mike's IQ must off the scale.

[@kirktierney]

Phenomenal work. In the next half-century, some fine propeller-heads will be reverse-engineering Mike's work in order to see how you all reverse-engineered and simulated the AGC.

[@Mythricia1988]

Hopefully they won't be trying to reverse-engineer Mike as a whole!

[@soulrobotics]

Today i was happy because i could put a big structure menu in an arduino uno flash, and now, looking this nerd porn, i feel both, excited and small... ;-). very happy with this AGC TEAM, CONGRATS GUYS

[@aserta]

Ben Krasnow of Applied Science built a DSKY in proper. And Fran Blanche is also (i hope she continues) on the trail. You should really get in touch with those two, both are walking treasure vaults of information.

[@Membrane556]

I wonder if it could be hooked to a space flight simulator such as Orbiter or KSP and have it control a virtual spaceracft?

[@sietuuba]

That's the plan...

[@noth606]

Membrane556 That should not be difficult, compared to all they have done so far. You'll need some code and some ad/da stuff and likely some signal translation tables in software or on an MCU so the in/out signals are correct. Which compared to recreating the AGC gate correct is ant sized peanuts.

[@user2C47]

KSP might be preferred due to how it is written. KER or MechJeb might be a dependency. The craft used would also need to match the Apollo spacecraft exactly or it will not work.

[@TheHermitHacker]

This would be a dream job!

[@christopherkise]

This i wild.. Very very cool

[@TimTheTerrible]

I'm actually starting to wonder at this point which took more effort: building all this incredible emulation stuff to bring this moment in history back to life, or actually landing on the moon. ;-)

[@scotty3034]

I’ve determined that I would need 1202 brains to equal Mike’s brain.

[@timgood4003]

Great work guys! Just fantastic what you have accomplished! Are the files for the FPGA board available? I'd sure like to make one of those.

[@aldergas01]

This simulator on an VR simulation. :)

[@pjrebordao]

It seems an AGC and DSKY were also deployed in a F-8C fighter (#802) used by NASA for developing Fly-by-wire in airplanes. Do you know something about the software loaded into that AGC ? I suppose it's different from any of the versions used in the Apollo missions...