Slide rule use in space
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05-09-2016, 04:56 PM
(This post was last modified: 05-09-2016 05:01 PM by 4ster.)
Post: #8
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RE: Slide rule use in space
(05-06-2016 04:03 PM)Accutron Wrote:(05-06-2016 01:59 PM)4ster Wrote: my very smart, slightly older, civil engineering friend snorted and said there was no way a slide had the precision necessary to navigate a space craft. I'll relay your observation about NASA's engineering preference to my civil engineering friend, which reminds me of a joke proving that God is a civil engineer...but I digress. I looked into the Faith 7 flight, a truly inspiring story of a great pilot overcoming his craft's system failures, thanks for relating the incident. I'm not sure it proves my supposition about navigation using slide rules since ground support supplied the timing of the re-entry burn. I would assume that Cooper double checked the NASA math with his slide rule but from what I read the start of the burn was relayed via radio by Glen. From the NASA history site: Twenty-three minutes later Cooper came into contact with Glenn again, reporting himself in retroattitude, holding manually, and with checkoff list complete. Glenn gave the 10-second countdown, and Cooper, keeping his pitch down 34 degrees by his window reticle, shot his retrorockets manually on the "Mark!" Glenn reported: "Right on the old gazoo. . . . Dealer's choice on reentry here, [501] fly-by-wire or manual . . . It's been a real fine flight, Gordon. Real beautiful all the way. Have a cool reentry, will you." Cooper timed his burn with his watch. Except for re-entry and time spent on the far side of the moon, NASA was almost always in contact with their spacecraft. NASA probably generated all navigation data and relayed it to the spacecraft via radio on the Mercury missions. Which to me implies that the heavy lifting would have been done by computer. I did find that the Gemini space craft were the first with a "solid state computer" on board. Steve In order of appearance: HP 41CV, CMT-MCGPS, HP 41CX, DM 41, DM 42 |
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Messages In This Thread |
Slide rule use in space - 4ster - 05-06-2016, 01:59 PM
RE: Slide rule use in space - Maximilian Hohmann - 05-06-2016, 03:33 PM
RE: Slide rule use in space - Didier Lachieze - 05-06-2016, 05:04 PM
RE: Slide rule use in space - Maximilian Hohmann - 05-06-2016, 05:38 PM
RE: Slide rule use in space - rprosperi - 05-08-2016, 11:13 PM
RE: Slide rule use in space - BruceH - 05-10-2016, 08:18 PM
RE: Slide rule use in space - Accutron - 05-06-2016, 04:03 PM
RE: Slide rule use in space - d b - 05-07-2016, 04:01 AM
RE: Slide rule use in space - 4ster - 05-09-2016 04:56 PM
RE: Slide rule use in space - brianddk - 05-10-2016, 07:36 PM
RE: Slide rule use in space - Massimo Gnerucci - 05-10-2016, 08:19 PM
RE: Slide rule use in space - Garth Wilson - 05-10-2016, 12:30 AM
RE: Slide rule use in space - StephenG1CMZ - 05-15-2016, 07:09 AM
RE: Slide rule use in space - 4ster - 05-11-2016, 01:48 PM
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