Tag: Exploration

The Eagle landed 49 years ago today, and two humans walked on a celestial body for the first time.

I have a fleeting, four-year-old’s memory of my dad waking me up (I must have been napping, as we were in CDT) to watch the moon landing. I don’t remember anything about the landing itself, just my dad waking me to see it. But that’s special enough, I think.

Here’s a nifty 360 of the interior of the Command Module that carried Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins to the moon that day.

https://www.facebook.com/Smithsonian/photos/a.57737704573.63791.6193904573/10156728357319574/?type=3&theater

This article is actually a couple years old. But if you haven’t seen it, it’s a fun read.

Keep in mind that this software was literally woven into the Apollo Guidance Computer’s (ACG’s) memory by hand. Wire by wire, the 0’s and 1’s were stitched together to get us to the Moon.

Programmers, at least the ones I like to hang out with, have always had a sense of humor in the commenting of their code. It’s nice to see the programming team for Apollo was no exception.

The code that took America to the moon was just published to GitHub, and it’s like a 1960s time capsule

“Burn, baby! BURN!”

Quartz

49 years ago today, Apollo 11 lifted off. It’s been too long.

Launch of Apollo 11 – NASA

On July 16, 1969, the huge, 363-feet tall Saturn V rocket launches on the Apollo 11 mission from Pad A, Launch Complex 39, Kennedy Space Center, at 9:32 a.m. EDT.

NASA