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Digital Apollo
As Apollo 11's Lunar Module descended toward the moon under automatic control, a program alarm in the guidance computer's software nearly caused a mission abort. Neil Armstrong responded by switching off the automatic mode and taking direct control. He stopped monitoring the computer and began flying the spacecraft, relying on skill to land it and earning praise for a triumph of human over machine. In Digital Apollo, engineer-historian David Mindell takes this famous moment as a starting point for an exploration of the relationship between humans and computers in the Apollo program. In each of the six Apollo landings, the astronaut in command seized control from the computer and landed with his hand on the stick. Mindell recounts the story of astronauts' desire to control their spacecraft in parallel with the history of the Apollo Guidance Computer. From the early days of aviation through the birth of spaceflight, test pilots and astronauts sought to be more than \"spam in a can\" despite the automatic controls, digital computers, and software developed by engineers. Digital Apollo examines the design and execution of each of the six Apollo moon landings, drawing on transcripts and data telemetry from the flights, astronaut interviews, and NASA's extensive archives. Mindell's exploration of how human pilots and automated systems worked together to achieve the ultimate in flight--a lunar landing--traces and reframes the debate over the future of humans and automation in space. The results have implications for any venture in which human roles seem threatened by automated systems, whether it is the work at our desktops or the future of exploration.David A. Mindell is Dibner Professor of the History of Engineering and Manufacturing, Professor of Engineering Systems, and Director of the Program in Science, Technology, and Society at MIT. He is the author of Between Human and Machine: Feedback, Control, and Computing before Cybernetics and War, Technology, and Experience aboard the USS Monitor.
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The Apollo missions and other adventures in space
This volume briefly covers some of the highlights of manned space exploration.
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No requiem for the space age : the Apollo moon landings and American culture
Why did support for the American space program decrease so sharply by the early 1970s, even as its Apollo missions continued visiting the moon? Rooted in profound scientific and technological leaps, rational technocratic management, and an ambitious view of the universe as a realm susceptible to human mastery, the Apollo moon landings were the grandest manifestation of postwar American progress and optimism. To the great dismay of its many proponents, however, NASA found the ground shifting beneath its feet as a fierce wave of antirationalism arose throughout American society, fostering a cultural environment in which growing numbers of Americans began to contest rather than embrace the rationalist values and vision of progress that Apollo embodied. Moving the conversation of Apollo from its Cold War origins to its place in American culture and society, and probing an eclectic mix of contemporary voices, including intellectuals, religious leaders, rock musicians, politicians, and a variety of everyday Americans, this book paints a portrait of a nation in the midst of questioning the very values that had guided it through the postwar years as it began to develop new conceptions of progress that had little to do with blasting ever more men to the moon. Here is a narrative of the 1960s and 1970s unlike any told before, with the story of Apollo as the story of America itself in a time of dramatic cultural change.
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Apollo 13 : how three brave astronauts survived a space disaster...
Astronauts Jim Lovell, Jack Swigert, and Fred Haise blasted off for the Moon on April 11, 1970. But after a disastrous explosion damaged their spacecraft, the three men had only one goal: to get back home safely.
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Journey to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Guidance Computer
Description
Evolution of the Apollo Guidance Computer, Mr. Hall contends that the development of the Apollo computer supported and motivated the semiconductor industry during a time when integrated
circuits were just emerging. This was the period just before the electronics revolution that gave birth to modern computers. In addition, the book recalls the history of computer technology,
both hardware and software, and the applications of digital computing to missile guidance systems and manned spacecraft. The book also offers graphics and photos drawn from the Draper Laboratories’
archives that illustrate the technology and related events during the Apollo project. Written for experts as well as lay persons, Journey to the Moon is the first book of its kind and a must
for anyone interested in the history of science and the relevance of computer technology to space exploration.
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First on the moon : the Apollo 11 50th anniversary experience
Celebrates the fiftieth anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission by sharing firsthand accounts from exclusive interviews and accessible explanations of the mission's technical problems.
Book
The Light of Earth
Apollo 15 command module pilot Al Worden was one of the
highest-profile personalities among the Apollo astronauts, renowned
for his outspokenness and potent views but also recognized as a
warm and well-liked person who devoted much of his life after
retiring from NASA to sharing his spaceflight experiences. Worden
had nearly finished writing this book before his passing in 2020 at
the age of eighty-eight. Coauthored with spaceflight historian
Francis French, The Light of Earth is Worden's
wide-ranging look at the greatest-ever scientific undertaking, in
which he was privileged to be a leading participant. Here Worden
gives readers his refreshingly candid opinions on the space
program, flying to the moon, and the people involved in the Apollo
and later shuttle programs, as well as sharing hard-hitting
reflections on the space shuttle program, the agonies and
extraordinary sights and delights of being a NASA Apollo astronaut,
and the space program's triumphs and failures. Worden delves into
areas of personal grief that reveal the noble and truly human side
of the space program's earliest years. He does not hold back when
discussing the shocking deaths of his fellow astronauts in the
three major tragedies that struck the space agency, nor does he shy
away from sharing his personal feelings about fellow Apollo
astronauts including Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin. Worden was
known as a charismatic speaker and one of the most thoughtful
Apollo astronauts. His candid, entertaining, and unique perspective
in The Light of Earth will captivate and surprise.
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