[Technical] DSKY

[Roland Gesthuizen]

Off topic but I hope you don't mind this bit of interesting news before you
all leap into the new year, blazing a trail with new network accounts and
other burning issues at your schools.

 <http://www.flickr.com/photos/moonmeister/125736756/>
 dsky <http://www.flickr.com/photos/moonmeister/125736756/> - Flickr
photograph by moonmeister <http://www.flickr.com/people/moonmeister/>.
Here is a good story that has done the rounds over the past few weeks. It
was about the NASA Apollo lander module, size of the computer and 64 kb of
memory!  Both the blog entry by David
McMahon<http://david-mcmahon.blogspot.com/2007/01/thats-one-small-computer-for-man.html>and
the full
story by the ABC Science
Unit<http://www.abc.net.au/science/moon/computer.htm>are worth
reading.

Although the computer was slow, the MIT team developed a robust, real-time
multi-tasking operating system (long before Linux). The system worked, but
almost caused the first moon landing to be aborted in the final minutes
before the touchdown. For recognising the error code and >making the
critical decision to continue, the mission control expert back on Earth
later received the US Medal of Freedom along with the three Apollo
astronauts. It is a true story of some hard core programmers and technicians
on a voyage of discovery.

Apollo 11 Astronaut Niel Armstrong gave a conference speech on the role
technology played in the race to the
Moon<http://news.zdnet.co.uk/itmanagement/0,1000000308,39285620,00.htm?r=8>.
In it he described the tiny computer that he used for the Gemini missions.
"Changing orbits, rendezvousing with another spacecraft, returning to earth
to a pre-determined landing spot, all with a primitive, little, 4K machine."

.. beats holding up your thumb or taking a squiz out of your little
spacecraft window.

Regards Roland

PS: Could anybody interested in hosting a meeting for the N2N group
(formerly PCEDUG) in 2007 please drop Ian Clark or myself a line?

-- 
Roland Gesthuizen - ICT Coordinator - Westall Secondary College
http://www.westallsc.vic.edu.au

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change
the world; indeed it is the only thing that ever has." --Margaret Mead
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