Apollo Software

[Don Shepherd]

(08-21-2016 10:42 AM)Karl-Ludwig Butte Wrote:  Thanks for sharing the link to the article.

For all those who want to know more about the Apollo Guidance Computer will find this book interesting:

O'Brian, Frank: "The Apollo Guidance Computer - Architecture and Operation",
2010, Springer, published in association with Praxis Publishing Ltd., Chichester, UK
ISBN: 978-1-4419-0876-6

Best regards

Karl

Thanks Karl. That is a good book, I agree. It explains the workings of the AGC in extensive detail.

Another good book is "Digital Apollo" by David Mindell. It focuses more on how the AGC came to be, how it was designed and built, rather than how it operates.

Here is an interesting quote from this book, especially in light of the recent computer problems with Delta Airlines:

"The space shuttle flies with five redundant computers. Any fully digital airliner has a minimum of three. Apollo had only one. It never failed in flight".

Of course, Apollo really had two identical guidance computers, one in the command module and one in the LM. What a marvel of engineering.