The computer that got us to the Moon - 13 Minutes to the Moon Season 1, Ep 5 - BBC World Service

The computer that got us to the Moon during Apollo 11.
It was the size of a briefcase, and there had never been anything like it.
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This is the story of the world’s first digital portable general purpose computer, which, through the work of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MIT, helped give rise to the digital age.
Presented by: Kevin Fong
Starring:
Ramon Alonso
Elaine Denniston
Charlie Duke
Don Eyles
Eldon Hall
Margaret Hamilton
Dan Lickly
Theme music by Hans Zimmer for Bleeding Fingers Music.
Listen to the podcast: www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p083...
Watch Season 1 of 13 Minutes to the Moon here: • 13 Minutes to the Moon
Watch Season 2 of 13 Minutes to the Moon here: • Playlist
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[@literallyshaking8019]

The AGC is quite possibly the greatest computer hardware/software ever created. When you think of the era in which it was created, the limitations, the innovations and the importance to get it perfect every time, it’s absolutely mind blowing that they pulled it off.

[@GH-oi2jf]

It is pointless to choose the "greatest" anything. There have been many computers which were great achievements, for one reason or another.

[@paulgracey4697]

My computer experience began with the U.S. Navy's first shipboard digital computers in 1962. While much larger than the Apollo guidance computer, it was the size of a large refrigerator. More ROM, larger word size, but still very compact for that time. Our training included making code that was as economic as practical, in machine code(no language like COBOL) Ours was done without a single integrated circuit, but it was done with far more reliable transistors than the IBM mainframes of that time. Still, we had two of those beasts, and the LM only had the one machine to rely upon. Marvelous.

[@GH-oi2jf]

Was that the AN/USQ-17? That was one of Seymour Cray's first computers.

[@Erik-gg2vb]

There is in you tube a bunch of software/hardware geeks getting their hands on a test hardware for the LEM and exploring (opening up) the hardware and proofing the core memory, IC were still functioning using supplied original flow charts was working. Fascinating stuff, look for it.

[@benjaminhanke79]

You're talking of @Curiousmarc. He and his friends did a nerdy deep dive into the AGC in serveral episodes released over the past five years. It's unbelievable detailed and always worth a re-watch.

[@farmeralnz]

I loved both seasons of this pod cast, it’s absolutely brilliant.

[@ardeladimwit]

it was the most beautiful starry morning and this came over the radio in the truck.... and so amazing to look up and think that there were men on the moon and we were listening to them on the radio. Crazy.

[@ryanreedgibson]

I wish I could have been there. Being born into it takes away some of the wonder.

[@ardeladimwit]

@@ryanreedgibson no-- just go look at the original footage and transcripts, photos and listen to the transmissions. It still remains awesome or more awesome in retrospect. I think the thing that is really overwhelming is the Crawler. You have to be mad to saddle yourself to a massive rocket, but the Crawler is unreal.

[@davethebarber3130]

How fantastic to have an audio, somewhat visual, report of sterling repute about this inspired programming team! Thank you, BBC! I went right out and bought Don Eyle’s book and will listen to the rest of the podcast series. 👍👍🌕🔭🚀👩‍🚀

[@davidmurphy563]

That was amazing

[@BBCWorldService]

We're so pleased you enjoyed it David! You can watch more episodes here 👉 kzbin.info/aero/PLz_B0PFGIn4f0xYPhOk0wIASOYE8-1Wbz

[@Pang_Yau]

How they managed to fit the entire source code into 36KB of ROM memory on the AGC about half an average email I will never comprehend .

[@DarronBirgenheier]

NOT source code

[@GH-oi2jf]

It didn’t contain any unnecessary software. The functions it performed were simple.

[@Pang_Yau]

@@GH-oi2jf have you even seen the source code printout of the agc . It's like several telephone books

[@amaratvak6998]

Because they never did!!! NASA cannot hide the bitter truth forever...lots n lots n lots of unanswered questions remain

[@amaratvak6998]

Because they never did!!!

[@tomtalk24]

Should have been made a TV episode

[@Derpy1969]

The Apollo AGC was an incredible device made possible by the billions put into the project by the US govt. It accelerated computer technology by a decade easily. Thanks to MIT.

[@jackkomisar458]

Core-rope memory in the Apollo Guidance Computer was what we would now call Read-Only-Memory (ROM) or non-volatile memory, in contrast to RAM, or random-access memory, in which information can change while a computer is in use. In the time of the Apollo Guidance Computer, RAM in regular commercial computers was provided by tiny magnetic rings called "cores". I have always assumed that the difference between core memory and core-rope memory was the presence of wires in the latter, and that the cores were the same. But I have never found a written description or a video that actually says this.

[@GH-oi2jf]

All core memory has wires running through the cores.

[@rsc9520]

It's amazing !!!

[@meritocracy168]

No matter how you described verbally. I am still not convinced why it is so difficult to get back there with much powerful computers, improvement of material science, more precision machines to make better equipment, etc. for the past 50 years.

[@kadiummusic]

There's an easy answer. But most people don't want to acknowledge it. 🤔

[@sebastiannolte1201]

You don't need computers to go to the moon, but a big rocket. And you need money and the will to do it. The first human went to the ground on the Mariana trench already in 1960, the next one was 2012. So why was there nothing between 1960 and 2012?

[@ZATennisFan]

This is true programming where failure is not an option to quite Gene Krantz

[@leenevin8451]

I watched a video that said it’s a conspiracy. I’m convinced because I dumb

[@David-lb4te]

Yes you must be.

[@romanroad483]

If you know you're dumb then you are not.

[@shankarbalakrishnan2360]

The 4th humans computers❤❤🎉🎉

[@Thisandthat8908]

poor old IBM 360 Mainframes get so little attention, doing most of the non-human computer work.

[@BBCWorldService]

Watch season 1 of the 13 minutes to the Moon 👉 kzbin.info/aero/PLz_B0PFGIn4f0xYPhOk0wIASOYE8-1Wbz

[@ivanfaught9997]

Why show the circles all the time

[@PCBoardRepair]

great video of circles on screen

[@anacerdalopez]

In black screen are bether

[@elvenkind6072]

It's a podcast, not a video..

[@Punk1984Rock]

Shame they had to remove all of the negative comments.

[@kimbalcalkins6903]

Unfortunately the fourth astronaut slept through the descent to and ascent from the moon, not his fault, he never got instructions to control the engines

[@laskartrece]

Come on! Funny...

[@IbnBahtuta]

The computer that got us to the Moon, who is the us? Here in Great Britain, we didn't go to the Moon, and probably never will, except on some other country's rocket.

[@EB-nz1qv]

One giant leap for mankind.

[@romanroad483]

Did the Russians have plans for a computer, electronic, mechanical, digital or analogue, to control their lunar lander?

[@robinwilliamsdouble5009]

Landing a man on the moon and safely returning them home was a great American achievement. No other country could have done it.

[@osogrande4999]

Trump is that you?

[@dannymostarac1799]

First aid?

[@djtomoy]

Can its plays minecraft??

[@osogrande4999]

No, only spacecraft.

[@djtomoy]

@@osogrande4999 no bad, funnier answer would have been Lunar Lander

[@kadiummusic]

And yet they still can't get out of low earth orbit in 2024. 🤔

[@sebastiannolte1201]

I also still cannot take a flight with 2200 km/h in 2024, although It was possible in 1977. Does that mean that the Concorde was fake? No. It just means, that there is no current vehicle to do that and that nobody sees the need to design a new one for economical reasons. But we meanwhile have a vehicle to bring humans to the moon, the SLS rocket with the Orion spacecraft, which is in development for years. And the first successful flight (Artemis 1, unmanned) around the moon was already in November 2023, the next one (Artemis 2, again around the moon, but with humans in it) now was postponed several times, should be November 2024, but now to September 2025. We will see. The crew was already announced in 2023. And of course we only talk about humans here. We send satellites, probes etc. beyond LEO all the time.

[@IbnBahtuta]

@@sebastiannolte1201 Yawn.