@OneAndOnlyMe
Even more mind blowing is that the AGC's memory was HAND WOVEN.
@cschenault
My parents helped write the code for the AGC it was their first job after getting their masters degrees in math, (no computer science degrees back then). They worked in Houston and were working there in January 27th,1967 when word came in from Cape Canaveral that Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee had died in the Apollo I capsule fire. It was devastating news as they had known them if only from afar. It is one of the clearest memories my mother still has of that time. Later they moved on to work on missile systems at White Sands Missile Range like the Patriot and Toe missiles. I still remember coloring on discarded punch cards and printouts from failed runs :) When I spoke to my dad about it years ago he talked about having to program computers with switches when he first got to WSMR, crazy stuff. Things have come a long way since then it's good to remember that we stand on the shoulders of giants.
@What_do_I_Think
Kudos for making the distinction between Assembly code and Machine code. Some today even do not know that.
@Youknewthatalready
Once in a while I stumble across something like this that really makes up for all the other mediocre junk taking up space on YouTube that makes me say to myself, "I'm really glad I watched that!" Dee, good job, this is pure gold👌 The content was a very fascinating little slice about this awesome historic endeavor! It invokes more appreciation for all those super intelligent people it took to make the program happen.
@shantanushekharsjunerft9783
Margaret Hamilton was the lead software engineer of the AGC. She coined the term Software Engineering and pioneered fault tolerance in software systems. Her ideas behind fault tolerance played a crucial role in gracefully handling of AGC overload right before landing
@Jenny_Digital
I have worked on Assembly language programs and it really finds out your weaknesses and forces you to learn. I am not a professional developer BTW, but I do have a passion for embedded systems. I know why they used assembly so much back in the day. It was their only real option. Thank goodness for really good compilers and large memories nowadays. WE ARE SPOILED.
@Fred-yq3fs
Curious Marc is a treasure trove channel. Going to auctions, nabbing old gear, doing hardware debugging, rebuilding display tech... Then casually piloting a landing. They are amazing.
@GerhardBothaWFF
I just smirk when people say older people don’t understand tech. As a 14 year old, I learned about microcomputers on an Intel 8085 development kit. You would write a program on paper using the 8085 assembly instructions, and then look up the machine code for those instructions in the manual and enter them using a keypad. 8 years later at university I was using my personal 386 PC to run Mathcad etc. It is amazing how rapidly things are developing. Apparently one cellphone represents a cost beyond the total world GDP of the 60’s where it possible to construct it using valve tech from that era. Great clip about this famous computer. A testament to pushing the limits of the tech you have available and the character of the people faced with solving problems
@petecunningham47
I just LOVED your commentary on the moon landing computer & code. I was on a night patrol in Vietnam during the moon landing & missed watching it live. Years before that, my 1st exposure to computer programming was in 1967 as an engineering student with Fortran and punch cards. To see what they were able to do with such a small amount of memory & 'primitive' interface in real time just 2 years later was pretty amazing. I ended up switching to a career in computers about the time the 1st Apple computer came out & I did a little assembler coding before going to higher languages. If people only knew all that a computer, such as a smart phone, has to do in order to accomplish even the simplest task, they would probably find it hard to believe.
@jamesrizza2640
I went to the Smithsonian a couple of decades ago now and was absolutely stunned by the technology and computers used to go to the moon. It looked absolutely archaic in design. I literally saw soldering points on the greenboards for wires. I was told at the time they had triple redundancies because of the anticipated shaking that might loosen the wires. My respect for those astronauts only grew tenfold when I saw that capsule and those components. Now, I have heard that we have to relearn how to go to the moon, because most of those brilliant engineers are now dead and things were kept on paper. Wow. You would have thought that we would have kept and or recorded these kinds of things, even if for only posterities sake. Great video, thanks for taking the time to explain it.
@terpcj
I started playing with computers around '69/70 and started programming for space systems around '80. When I began, cards were for development and paper tape was for finished code (it was more compact but really really annoying to edit). Fast forward ten years to around 1980 and terminals faster than a TTY were starting to become common, which made all the programmers happier -- even at 300 baud. That said, I was still doing a fair amount of programming with cards well into the 80s. Many programs were developed using FORTRAN to work out the algorithms and logic (C wasn't yet mainstream, nor vetted for space missions where I worked) and chase out a lot of the bugs, but in the end we were still translating that by hand into "optimized" and commented assembly (i.e. just compiling and doing an assembly dump as a shortcut wasn't an option). It was a treat when you got to use an AL you already knew from a previous computer; still, you ended up learning a lot of them.
@jameskranig8922
Excellent video. It's heartening to see young software developers pay homage to the giants whose shoulders all developers stand on. I was 7 years old when Apollo 11 landed on the moon. Later in high school, I read about the AGC and I was inspired to learn how to program. First course was FORTRAN with punch cards. I worked as a software engineer for 38 years and never forgot the lessons learned from those pioneers. PS I love your South African accent. Keep up the good work!
@relentless01
this is awesome. I love everything about the moon program and Apollo 11 especially this is fascinating. Thank you.
@mikedavies3710
I started my career as a rocket systems engineer at Rocketdyne in the 80s - your description and summary is accurate and fun to listen to / watch!!
@billandmyraclarke2809
Amazing! I remeber an interview/debriefing with all three astronauts after their return and Buzz admitted to not releasing the radar task which he should have done to follow procedure. The result was the two errors. Buzz said that at the time he wasn't going to let go of ride home or something to that effect. Who can blame him! What they did is beyond brave! I think you can find this interview on the 3 DVD set NASA released (years ago now). I can also remember watching this in real time back in '69 - it was sooo tense. The fuel almost gone, the computer errors, a last second decision to manually override the landing to get a better spot. Whew it was spectacular. Thanks for doing the video - Good job! - Bill
@cerealport2726
I'm all for expressing a sense of humour in code comments.
@norfintorkjoe8925
Landing was on the 20th. Thanks for highlighting the software/hardware of the effort!
@jimhowaniec
I was ten years old when Eagle landed on Tranquility Base. It was the apotheosis of my life. Nothing has matched it since, it has inspired me to greater heights, even all these years later. Neil Armstrong, Bobby Kennedy, and Martin Luther King are my life heroes, all forever connected in that period in 1968-69. The moon landing was literally jaw dropping for a 10 year old nerd from Maine with coke bottle glasses. It changed my life, infinitely for the better. I have read many books and watched many videos on the Apollo guidance system. This is one of the best I've seen. Bravo, Dee!
@cyclenut
I started learning programming when I was 19 in 83. 8086/8088 assembly code was the common language. I still use 8086 assembly as BASIC is often to limited. I got to watch a Saturn 5 launch in 71. That is when I got the programming bug. Thanks for this information.
@codingwithdee