2018-02-23 18:58:03 +00:00
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---
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created_at: '2014-04-03T13:15:03.000Z'
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title: NASA Open Sources Apollo 11 Code (2009)
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url: http://apcmag.com/apollo-11-code-goes-open-source.htm
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author: jaboutboul
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points: 145
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story_text: ''
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comment_text:
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num_comments: 36
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story_id:
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story_title:
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story_url:
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parent_id:
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created_at_i: 1396530903
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_tags:
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- story
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- author_jaboutboul
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- story_7522539
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objectID: '7522539'
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2018-06-08 12:05:27 +00:00
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year: 2009
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2018-02-23 18:58:03 +00:00
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---
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2018-03-03 09:35:28 +00:00
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It’s been famously remarked that the on-board systems in Apollo 11 had
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less computing power than a modern pocket calculator.
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2018-02-23 18:19:40 +00:00
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2018-03-03 09:35:28 +00:00
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Now we can see that the code which ran those systems was probably less
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complicated than the code behind the Windows Calculator.
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2018-02-23 18:19:40 +00:00
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2018-03-03 09:35:28 +00:00
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As part of its celebration of the 40th anniversary of Apollo 11 and
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man’s first steps on the moon the spaceheads at Google have published
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the [original
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code](http://googlecode.blogspot.com/2009/07/apollo-11-missions-40th-anniversary-one.html)
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from the [Apollo Guidance
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Computer](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_Guidance_Computer) or AGC.
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The code was transcribed from scanned images of printouts for the AGC in
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both the Command Module (codenamed Comanche054) which reached moon orbit
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and was the return vehicle; and the Lunar Module (Luminary099) which
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took astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin to the moon.
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While the code itself is primarily of interest to programmers there are
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some amusing snippets which show that the geek sense of humour never
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changes.
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Line 666 in the Lunar Module’s code has a comment identifying it as
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“NUMERO MYSTERIOSO” or the number of mystery while Lines 179 and 180
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have both been commented by the programmer as “TEMPORARY I HOPE HOPE
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HOPE”.
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If you want to load up the code and try it for yourself Google also
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provides links to an open-source AGC
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emulator.
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What’s a GUI? The Apollo systems were controlled through a simple ‘Dsky’
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(display and keyboard) console
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Alternatively you can take a virtual flight to the Moon with the latest
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update to [Google Earth](http://earth.google.com/) which now adds lunar
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images and related content to the program.
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The ‘Moon in Google Earth’ feature lets you take a tour of the landing
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sites with narration by Apollo astronauts; view 3D models of the landed
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spacecraft; zoom into 360 degree photos to see the footprints left by
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the astronauts; and watch archival TV footage of the Apollo missions.
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The lunar panoramas can be explored using the same format as Google
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Street View format although so far there haven’t been any privacy
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complaints.
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