MIT Science Reporter-"Computer for Apollo" (1965) 

So proud to call this reporter my grampa! 94 years old and sharp as ever :) Edit: He passed in November of 2020, but before he did, he said he had done everything in life that he wanted to do (except live to 100!) We miss him, but take comfort in knowing he lived his life to the absolute fullest.

Notice how calm this documentary is. No music, no screaming, just people talking calmly.

We spend a lot of time talking about the hippies of the 60s , while these geniuses are actually the ones that moved us into the next generation.

People don't realize that it was through NASA and the space program that advancements were made in computers as well as other fields we take for granted today

Wow. As someone who was born 3 years after this, in 1968, and now a 55 y/o electrical and software engineer designing autonomous vehicle software, this is just mind blowing. Watching them make those memory cores when I have 256 gigabyte micro sd card in my hand is just tripping me out. He said one holds 65k bytes of information. He means BITS!! More like 8k bytes. I feel really old right now but also happy to have lived through this amazing computing revolution. 256 Gb / 8 kb = 256E9 / 8000 = 32,000,000 Which means, I have 32 million times the memory as one of those cores in an object the size of a thumbnail, in my hand, that cost 20 bucks delivered in 2 days from Amazon. All in just 58 years. Unreal.

Back when audiences were not treated as idiots what an awesome doc

Back when a reporter was not just a talking head. Kudos to this guy for knowing and understanding enough about the subject that he can actually ask intelligent questions pertaining to the interview!

This appeared in my recommended videos after watching CuriousMarc and his team restore an Apollo computer. It's neat to see one being built.

Being a programmer, I hold these geeks in highest esteem and awe. Albert Hopkins is my new hero. That guy ruled!

Even today that computer is amazing.

From a time when Tv was expected to educate and enlighten as opposed to the rubbish we broadcast now

Apollo Guidance Computer is such a masterpiece of engineering and miniaturisation, showing off the future. In hindsight one of the most influential achievements of the entire Apollo Program.

This documentary is a nugget. I am surprised to see that they go that deep in the description and explanation of the production process for a general public program. Nowadays, very few go that far alas. It is a pity that the contrast founds its limitations and we can't see some details nevertheless, what a colossal achievement we had here. Respect to all the people who were involved in this program, they can be proud. Very impressive in each and every aspect. Regards from France.

That was stunning. Thank you to all involved.. Back when audiences were not treated as idiots what an awesome doc.

My deepest respect towards that generation. They did science with those magnetic nuclei to elaborate memories and establish a programming. Profoundly admirable and great how they applied analog and digital electronics to make these computers work. wonderful coordination, teamwork and pure engineering

I really wish men (myself included) still talked like this. Instead of the modern "youtube voice" style that everyone seems to have these days. Love the calm, authoritative style with no "uptalk".

It's funny to me how they have absolutely no problem going into details into *how* and *why* this stuff works. The people producing it, the reporter covering it, and the public at large was interested in this stuff and there was an actual demand for engineering-level videos about the technology behind it. Today, it's impossible to get even a fraction of this level of detail from anyone - let alone government agencies.

Probably one of the best historical videos I've seen on RU-vid. The rarely experienced descriptive detail allowing you to appreciate not only the sheer complexity of the design and build of the AGC but the design of the machines, people and processes needed for manufacturing, this was a feat in itself. Amazing.

Very interesting to see what was state of the art technology in 1965. It is all so inventive. And you can see how each of these devices were early prototypes for the microcircuitry we have now.

Listening to them talk I can feel somehow that their world moved more slowly than ours. Everything is so leisurely here. They were making the definitive documentary on this topic, which would be broadcast on TV at a time when there weren’t that many channels to choose from. They weren’t competing against a billion other RU-vid videos.

As an electronic engineer, one of whose high school lecturers worked at Bletchley Park, and 80s computer geek (go 6502!) the whole AGC story simply astonishes me. Take nothing away from the challenges and efforts elsewhere in the program but this was off the scale and breaking the boundaries of what they even thought might be possible. I worked with ferrite-core memories in warship fire control systems in the 90s. They were reliable and robust but antiquated (though for ‘antiquated’ read ‘proven’) and were orders of magnitude smaller than those of Apollo. I truly believe that the AGC was the most ‘giant leap’ of the whole Apollo program.

When I was in the Navy I worked on the SLQ-32 which was an electronic warfare system also made by Raytheon, and a lot of this same technology was still in use. In 1993 I was assigned to the Program Office that oversaw the SLQ-32 project, and I went to the factory in Goleta, CA where they were using that same wire wrap machine to manufacture motherboards for SLQ-32 units, although the paper tape reader had been replaced with a magnetic tape unit. The SLQ-32 had four 128KB magnetic core memory modules, each module consisted of three cards, so it took 12 cards to provide 512K of memory, and this was in the 1980s. It was enough to hold an emitter library that contained 256 emitters in a fixed library and 128 emitters that could be entered by the operator. The magnetic core memory was just being replaced with more modern RAM modules in the late 1980s. The Navy clung to magnetic core for so long because it was non-volatile and easier to EMP harden. The Apollo computer and the ROLM1606 of the SLQ-32 could get by with these tiny amounts of memory and processing power because all they really did was crunch numbers. There were no fancy displays that use up most of the processing power in a modern computer. On Apollo, most of the computational heavy lifting was done on the ground and transmitted up to the computer. All the onboard system had to do was perform some simple calculations and fire the thrusters at specific times for specific durations, or as shown in the video, slew a telescope. The SLQ-32 just had to compare the numbers it got from the receivers to what was in memory and display a symbol. Prior to the space program, most of the designers' experience with portable computers was with mechanical systems that were used for gun laying or navigation, and you can see some of that kind of thinking in the design of the Apollo computer. The rope memory, in which the software had to be woven into the modules is really a mechanical solution to a digital problem, and the machine that indexes the modules to the proper position when a switch is tripped by the needle being inserted through a hole is really a mechanical computer. It shows the almost limitless ingenuity that goes into solving these problems.

This video is a treasure trove of information about a crucial, but little publicized part of our successful Apollo project. I love all these MIT films, but this one stands out as superb!

Brilliant explaination of the developments of the digital computer for Apollo. Its hoped that this switches the light on for all those who still think alien tech is the source of today's computers. This film shows the steady progress of computer size reduction and why miniturisation occured so rapidly during the 1960s and led to home computers in the late 1970s.

1965 was the year I started to program on large IBM equipment. I loved the idea and so I did it for 50+ year afterwards. Neat to see this equipment that was the generation that miniaturized everything in electronics.

Programming with needle and thread, wow!

"someone has compared it to, shooting at a moving target, from a revolving platform, which is mounted on a train, which is going around a curve"

for me the most impressive thing are the machines that construct the computer wiring. it's crazy to think that these machines had to be thought of in the first place, and before them other machines had to be invented to construct the machines that construcht the machines that finally do the wiring. exciting to see that in 1965, where so many things - from our perspective - were primitive, other things seem modern.

To think this was cutting edge tech back in the day! indeed it would not be another ten years or so before personal computers would become readily available to the general public.

This video is absolutely fantastic and should be preserved for future generations. It is not possible to overstate it's historic importance.

What wonderful historical footage. 👍 I am always blown away by the ingenuity of the engineers and toolmakers who created the automated tools to make these intricate manufacturing processes possible.

Having worked at MIT/IL Bldg 7 on Apollo during the late 1960s, and having visited Raytheon, some of this information is new to me. But my job was different, so I suspect that was to be expected. As complex as the technology appeared to be in 1965, it was fairly simple by today's computer technology standards. The operator entry DSKY shown in this video and used on the Apollo Command Module (CM) and Lunar Module (LEM) help set the standard for modern push button telephones and computer keyboard layouts. The AGC computer never failed during its use on the Apollo missions.

The guidance computer was the star behind the scenes of Apollo. The computer had such limited power and memory, but the MIT team used such concise and elegant logic so that it could function so well. Even when there was the unexpected 1202 problem on the Apollo 11 during the descent onto the moon, the guidance computer handled it very well and allowed them to land.

I like the way he talks, that old american english was so easy to understand. I admire the ingenuity of the engineers who build this groundbreaking computer.

how far we have come... the key thing is that it worked. it still reminds me of one of my favorite Spock quotations: "I am endeavoring to construct a pneumatic memory circuit using stone knives and bearskins"

I came from the CuriousMarc channel, they are restoring one of this Apollo computers.

There is a great book if anyone is so inclined - "The Apollo Guidance Computer: Architecture and Operation Book by Frank O'Brien". It gives you everything you need to know about it!

Wooow. I've been looking for this kind of buzz all my life.

Wow, the amount of time spent making those memory cores. It's insane how far we've come

24:38 -- "Here you see a 'fairly complex' wiring pattern." (understatement of the entire 1960's decade)

I hope these wonderful technicians, engineers and scientists have, for the most part lived to see 2018 tech! Brilliant! They were brilliant!

That was stunning. Thank you to all involved.

Thank you , absolutely fascinating film, as an ex electronics technician , It's so interesting for me to see how they build a practical, miniaturized version of what in those days would take up half a room , being still mostly in the valve era or tube era if you prefer ( I'm Australian so.... ) , seeing how they managed to build such a compact solid state computer with such primitive components ( compared to today's standards!, with the primitive beginnings of integrated circuits to form logic gates, & package/wire them into such a compact form factor, absolutely fascinating ! , many thanks :)

When I was protyping 8x48 MCUs during my electronics studies in the 80s, we used thin insulated wire (wirewrap) protyping to construct, but this wiring is a whole different level of detail. I wouldn't have the patience then, or now

Our modern world stands on the shoulders of giants, John Fitch and these engineers are only a few of them.

15:54, when testing the micrologic components, if there’s any significant failure, the ENTIRE lot of 5,000 is rejected - wow! That’s taking reliability and safety extremely seriously. Amazing. And the centrifuge and leak testing - I can only imagine how intensely interesting it must have been coming up with testing protocols.

Just think, one of those modules contains 512 bits of program. not 512 Meg, not 512 K, not 512 Bytes, but 512 Bits. The model was programmed as it was wired up. Man how technology has progressed through the years. It is amazing how they had wire the entire module. it took a team of 10 people to assemble / test one module. Today, it takes 1 person to monitor a machine making 512 meg read only modules for today's computers. It is amazing how Apollo 11 accomplished its mission. Back then this was state of the art.

Thank you for putting this up; it's absolutely mind blowing how they accomplished things back then. Rope memory anyone? 🤯

1965, so impressive they already made stuff like this. Great video

The "Software Engineer," (her own title) Margaret Hamilton, fixed the glitch which would have prevented the space ship from landing! Kudos to her!

the detail and complexity of this is so deep it beggars imagination. Systems analysis, research engineering and manual technique combined to a degree much more detailed than a Swiss watch. Just wow.

This gets recommended when you bingewatch @curiousmarc videos.. :-)

Fascinating stuff. The amount of manual work was incredible and it had to be flawless. All of the "brains" for this was in the Boston area fed by MIT. Silicon Valley was just California wasteland when the technological revolution in computing was occurring on the beltway west of Boston.

I taught the mechanization of the Apollo Guidance System and the software that controlled the Digital Autopilots of both the Command Module and the Lunar Module. I taught them to the flight controllers and technicians at the Manned Spaceraft Center near Houston. I also did one astronaut class at Cape Kennedy. I was lucky enough to sit in on many astronaut briefings. What an exciting time that was!

0:34 Stand there and push buttons while we film you. act like you're testing something.

Wonderful. You'd have thought these novel concepts would be dumbed down for the viewer, but there was a much higher degree of jargon than I had imagined, yet the script was extremely clear and easy to follow. such a contrast with today's 'science' TV documentaries.

Fascinating from so many perspectives. Especially cultural. Repeatedly referring to the female technicians as girls, and the males as ”operators”! Can you even imagine the grief one would receive today for such remarks? Great video, thanks much for posting!

Let's not forget that this computer was designed for a single purpose. It also didn't suffer from a bloated operating system. No crap running in the background, no graphics or audio interface anywhere, no automatic updates to cause crashes..

Every now and then a random RU-vid suggestion leads to a hidden treasure like this.

What a great presenter. Calm, confident and erudite.

Simply amazing!!! It makes me wonder how many times they repeated the building process until they got perfect modules!! So many components to place and connect with no defects!! It is an impressive example of the effort required to get to the moon!! For us the new generations science fiction creates the illusion that space travel is an easy accomplishment!!

Interesting and thorough presentation of, for the time, a huge leap forwards in computer science. As a side note, this film (1955 - 1966) was directed and produced by Russell Morash (28.56) who is well known for his many TV programs including "This Old House" (1979 - 1990) and "The New Yankee Workshop" (1989). Very Well Done!!

John Townsend Fitch died on November 28, 2020 at the age of 94 at his home in Boston, Massachusetts.

Humanity peaked in the 20th century. Everything since has just been grandstanding

Fascinating insights from all departments at MIT and Raytheon. I'm particular intrigued how much manual work was involved with constructing computers in the pre-IC era. You practially "knitted" your memory.

I can't believe they were doing automated 'CNC' soldering back then. Amazing.

What a wonderful time. All the engineers wore narrow ties, had buzz cuts, and smelled like Old Spice. I still have my slide rule and engineering tables from back then.

Note regarding the computer’s fixed Rope Memory mentioned here: the weaving took place in a factory located in Waltham, Massachusetts near the textile mills from which the weavers were recruited. Also here's an excerpt from The Navigation Computer episode in the 2008 Discovery Science documentary series Moon Machines. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-DWcITjqZtpU.html

Those ELD segment displays were state of the art way back then ❤

I’m over here geeking out. It’s amazing what people can do when given the motivation and resources to accomplish a common goal.

Early 60s Seeburg jukeboxes used similar iron core memory in their Tormat memory "computer". Pretty cool in that even if the box was unplugged, it would still remember the record selections already made.

this is the most important part. or atleast one of them. guidance systems actual technique used to find path to moon. seems meaningful. they used stars and earth position for guidance as used on ships. but i thik it was easier to find moon by placing a radio server at moon and tracking that signals position but tracking position and trajectory relative to stars and earth seems fine too :p and better way in case technology is limited.

This is a great film on 1960's computer technology for Apollo program! Thanks for sharing it. Maybe some day we can see a version in 4k, with even better detail. ~ Thank you.

Interesting how the Apollo Program/NASA/MIT brought the best people from all over the World, from Germany to Argentina

I love the guy talking about the math operations. Basically all of what he's saying and talking about is still present in all modern computers.

So glad I don't have to communicate with my desktop computer using the NOUN VERB interface.

Ironic.... I was born in 1965.....I was only 3 1/2 when apollo 11 landed...wish I had memory of it....if you haven't seen it yet....people should look up the RU-vid video of the guys that restored an apollo AGC

The work it took...

Those are the memories of the USA that I have as a child. I was born and raised in Colombia amazed by the scientific and industrial achievements derived from the space program. I watched similar shows on TV when it was worth it. It is very sad to see what this great nation has become - or at least what they show in the media.

My introduction to computers was in the late 70's. I am amazed by this video. To imagine "we" have gone from that to Smart Phones with AI Assistants.

These are the original nerds. ❤️👍

these guys sound like it was scripted to the last letter, very well explained..Education, the sharing with the public, all very special to the Apollo project

Pioneers nothing more nothing less, we owe a lot of our technology we have today due to these guys and gals, so much respect given

It was reports like this from back in the day that made me want to become an engineer while all my friends wanted to become Astronauts!! I achieved my dreams but none of my friends did!

This is a GEM of a documentary! The fact that we were able to work through all the analog problems of early computing is amazing.

Sheldon's dad was the computer expert. Spitting image!

These were true integrated circuits of the day. Amazing tech for that time.

I was about 5 years old when this was produced. I remember watching the Gemini and Apollo space shots from then to 1972. It was a time when much of the country was focused on this goal of getting to the moon and beating the Russians. You could feel the energy and focus and pride. There were other important things going on in the world but this was fascinating.

Wow! This pioneering work was done in a time of no internet or any ready reference that we are so accustomed to. They are the real problem solvers, way ahead of their times. Bravo 👏

Incredible how this program truly feveloped ao much of modern comphting technology. Goes to show what happens when government invests with a clear good purpose and goal.

Who was responsible for the software being written this computers executed and made them useful in the first place? Margaret Hamilton, then just about 30 years old, a working mother. Not a single mentioning of her, the lead software engineer at the MIT for the Apollo program. In none of these documentations. Completely invisible. Stunning.

The epitome of overdesign and MILSPEC. When you are sending a man to the moon and don't want to be the contractor responsible for him not coming back.

Check out those wiring looms. Manually creating those routes must have been a complete and utter nightmare.

Incredible amount of work that was needed to make it happen!.

Ahhh, the 1960s. When nerds looked like nerds.

"For the opening music, could we have something obscure and grating to the ear, but still in the public domain?"

This miniature computer .... that’s as big as a block of flats

Brilliant media to explain, in layperson’s terms, how complex space navigation is done. People not fearful of facts without jargon.

Very educational video with great reporting. Also, the whole world should say a big thank you to the scientists and programmers who invented this revolutionary piece of technology. The silicon chip based computer paved the way for all the home computers, smartphones and every other digital device that we take for granted today. Indeed the whole Apollo program gave us hundreds of new inventions that we use daily in the 21st century.

The wire wrapping...OMG ! I'd go nuts if I had to do that.