Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #Apollo51
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When it came to flying to the Moon, MIT played a central role: They invented the navigation that made spaceflight possible, they designed & programmed the Apollo spacecraft computers.
The man in charge of all that wanted to stake his life on MIT's work.
fastcompany.com/90365754/this-…
The man in charge of all that wanted to stake his life on MIT's work.
fastcompany.com/90365754/this-…
2/ Charles Stark Draper himself helped invent and perfect inertial navigation — in a secret mission, he and his staff flew cross-country in a B-29 in 1953 in a 13-hour flight during which MIT's staff test pilot never touched the controls.
3/ Draper wanted to underscore his confidence that MIT's work on Apollo would be flawless — so he wrote his old student, then 3rd in command of NASA, & volunteered to crew Apollo's first mission.
'I realize that my age of 60 years is a negative factor in considering my request.'
'I realize that my age of 60 years is a negative factor in considering my request.'
It's July 20, 2020 — the anniversary of the first landing on the Moon by the astronauts of Apollo 11.
A fistful of mini-story treats for this Moon landing day.
#Apollo51
A fistful of mini-story treats for this Moon landing day.
#Apollo51
2/ How do we know the Moon landings weren't faked?
If you put aside the 410,000 people here on Earth who worked in factories & at companies making Apollo spaceship components — how do *know* it wasn't just a vast, brilliant conspiracy?
Here's how.
fastcompany.com/90375425/apoll…
If you put aside the 410,000 people here on Earth who worked in factories & at companies making Apollo spaceship components — how do *know* it wasn't just a vast, brilliant conspiracy?
Here's how.
fastcompany.com/90375425/apoll…
3/ Apollo 11 astronauts Armstrong & Collins had to scramble as they were landing to find a fresh landing site — the original one had a big crater.
The result: NASA never knew where they actually landed, while they were on the Moon. Really.
fastcompany.com/90367548/neil-…
The result: NASA never knew where they actually landed, while they were on the Moon. Really.
fastcompany.com/90367548/neil-…
It's July 16 — the anniversary of the launch of Apollo 11 to the Moon 51 years ago, in 1969.
The day of the launch of Armstrong, Aldin & Collins, the New York Times front page was sedate.
See below.
#Apollo51
The day of the launch of Armstrong, Aldin & Collins, the New York Times front page was sedate.
See below.
#Apollo51
2/ It was the era when you looked to newspapers the day after big events for spectacular coverage.
That's when they could capture the event in photos, could write stories, could unleash those 8-column headlines.
Here's the NYT front page the day after the launch.
That's when they could capture the event in photos, could write stories, could unleash those 8-column headlines.
Here's the NYT front page the day after the launch.
3/ Couple fun things happened the Wednesday of the launch (in addition to the flawless launch itself):
Pres. Nixon called for a national holiday the following Monday (July 21), so everyone could stay up late the day of the Moon walk without worrying about work & school.
Pres. Nixon called for a national holiday the following Monday (July 21), so everyone could stay up late the day of the Moon walk without worrying about work & school.
Going to the Moon was the hardest thing humans ever did. How can we say that?
I ran the numbers.
Total hours of Apollo spaceflight: 2,502
(100 days)
Total hours of work on Earth for each 1 hour of Apollo spaceflight: 1 million
fastcompany.com/90364565/going…
I ran the numbers.
Total hours of Apollo spaceflight: 2,502
(100 days)
Total hours of work on Earth for each 1 hour of Apollo spaceflight: 1 million
fastcompany.com/90364565/going…
2/ That's a mind-boggling ratio.
--> 1 hour of Apollo spaceflight
--> 1 million hours of work on Earth
What's 1 million hours of work?
A typical American works 100,000 hours in a lifetime (2,000 hours a year for 50 years).
--> 1 hour of spaceflight
--> 10 lifetimes of work
--> 1 hour of Apollo spaceflight
--> 1 million hours of work on Earth
What's 1 million hours of work?
A typical American works 100,000 hours in a lifetime (2,000 hours a year for 50 years).
--> 1 hour of spaceflight
--> 10 lifetimes of work
3/ Every hour of flight to the Moon in the 1960s required the equivalent of 10 entire lives of work.
Imagine being able to do something for 1 hour that 10 people had spent their entire lives getting you ready to do.
Then the 2nd hour came along. 10 more people's entire lives…
Imagine being able to do something for 1 hour that 10 people had spent their entire lives getting you ready to do.
Then the 2nd hour came along. 10 more people's entire lives…
Is the Moon made of green cheese?
1,000 years of children's tales suggest it might have been.
The Apollo 8 astronauts went to the Moon in December 1968.
They settled the question, with a dash of rare astronaut political humor.
#Apollo51
fastcompany.com/90362332/the-m…
1,000 years of children's tales suggest it might have been.
The Apollo 8 astronauts went to the Moon in December 1968.
They settled the question, with a dash of rare astronaut political humor.
#Apollo51
fastcompany.com/90362332/the-m…
2/ That's #16 in my series from last summer, '50 Days to the Moon,' @FastCompany — 50 short stories about the incredible effort it took to put people on the Moon in the 1960s, amid the cultural & political tumult of that decade.
3/ The race to the Moon is the perfect tale for this summer. A reminder that if we work together as a nation, we can accomplish the possible, and also the impossible.
The Moon & green cheese — just a dash of wit.
fastcompany.com/90362332/the-m…
The Moon & green cheese — just a dash of wit.
fastcompany.com/90362332/the-m…
Before software controlled the world, we couldn't even agree how to spell it.
In the 1950s & 1960s, it was spelled 2 ways:
• softwear
• software
Even companies hiring coders couldn't decide.
Going to the Moon helped settle that question.
fastcompany.com/90362325/softw…
In the 1950s & 1960s, it was spelled 2 ways:
• softwear
• software
Even companies hiring coders couldn't decide.
Going to the Moon helped settle that question.
fastcompany.com/90362325/softw…
2/ And what about writing computer code?
Was it an art? a talent, like writing?
Was it a science, like math?
The software that flew to the Moon had to be perfect, and perfectly understood.
So Apollo helped turn software into an engineering discipline.
fastcompany.com/90362325/softw…
Was it an art? a talent, like writing?
Was it a science, like math?
The software that flew to the Moon had to be perfect, and perfectly understood.
So Apollo helped turn software into an engineering discipline.
fastcompany.com/90362325/softw…
3/ That's #14 in my series about what it took to get to the Moon in the 1960s, '50 Days to the Moon,' @FastCompany.
50 stories, written in 50 days, last summer — to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first Moon landing on July 20, 1969.
#Apollo51
50 stories, written in 50 days, last summer — to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first Moon landing on July 20, 1969.
#Apollo51
The computers that flew Americans to the Moon 50 years ago were marvels—the smallest, fastest, most advanced computers ever.
But making them was a problem. No memory chips. No portable disk drives.
So their software was hand-woven by textile workers.
fastcompany.com/90363966/the-g…
But making them was a problem. No memory chips. No portable disk drives.
So their software was hand-woven by textile workers.
fastcompany.com/90363966/the-g…
2/ The flight computers only had 78k of memory (yes, less computing power than your microwave oven) — but every 1 and 0 in the software was an individual wire placed by a textile worker, at a Raytheon factory in Waltham, Mass.
See picture below.
#Apollo51
See picture below.
#Apollo51
3/ For Apollo, this combination of hand-crafting and advanced technology wasn't unusual.
The lunar rover.
The parachutes.
The spacesuits.
The heat shield.
All had hand-made elements.
(Heat shield being applied with caulk guns, below.)
fastcompany.com/90363966/the-g…
The lunar rover.
The parachutes.
The spacesuits.
The heat shield.
All had hand-made elements.
(Heat shield being applied with caulk guns, below.)
fastcompany.com/90363966/the-g…
NASA & MIT tried to fly to the Moon using transistors.
But transistors couldn't do enough math, fast enough, to guide spaceships flying 25,000 mph.
So MIT turned to a shaky technology that seemed to have potential:
Integrated circuits. Computer chips.
fastcompany.com/90362753/how-n…
But transistors couldn't do enough math, fast enough, to guide spaceships flying 25,000 mph.
So MIT turned to a shaky technology that seemed to have potential:
Integrated circuits. Computer chips.
fastcompany.com/90362753/how-n…
2/ And thereby hangs a tale — and the wildly uncredited birth of modern computing.
MIT drove the quality and reliability of computer chips, for the Apollo spaceship computers. MIT literally taught the early chip makers how to make the product that runs the world.
MIT drove the quality and reliability of computer chips, for the Apollo spaceship computers. MIT literally taught the early chip makers how to make the product that runs the world.
3/ When Gordon Moore wrote the paper which introduced the idea that became Moore's Law, he only mentioned one organization pioneering use of integrated circuits—NASA, and the Apollo project's leap to the Moon.
There you can see the future, Moore wrote.
fastcompany.com/90362753/how-n…
There you can see the future, Moore wrote.
fastcompany.com/90362753/how-n…
Your dishwasher has more computing power than the computers that flew us to the Moon.
But those computers, in the command module & the lunar module (picture below), were the smallest, fastest, most nimble computers of their era.
They changed the world.
fastcompany.com/90362562/this-…
But those computers, in the command module & the lunar module (picture below), were the smallest, fastest, most nimble computers of their era.
They changed the world.
fastcompany.com/90362562/this-…
2/ That those Apollo flight computers were so basic, but flew to the Moon, isn't a measure of how primitive they were.
It's a measure of how ingenious the men & women at MIT were, who designed and programmed them.
It's a measure of how ingenious the men & women at MIT were, who designed and programmed them.
3/ In just 5 or 6 years, the MIT engineers took computing power that required space equal to four full-size refrigerators, and shrank it down to 1 square foot — about the size of a brief case.
And that computer was better, by far, than the four-refrigerator version.
And that computer was better, by far, than the four-refrigerator version.
At the start of the space race, the Soviet Union really kicked American butt.
The Russians not only did almost every important space achievement first, they enjoyed beating Americans over & over.
fastcompany.com/90361743/how-t…
The Russians not only did almost every important space achievement first, they enjoyed beating Americans over & over.
fastcompany.com/90361743/how-t…
2/ What did the Soviets do first in space?
• 1st satellite into space (Sputnik)
• 1st creature into space (Laika)
• 1st person into space (Gagarin)
• 1st woman into space (Tereshkova)
• 1st space walk (Leonov, 1965)
• 1st photos of the far side of the Moon
• 1st satellite into space (Sputnik)
• 1st creature into space (Laika)
• 1st person into space (Gagarin)
• 1st woman into space (Tereshkova)
• 1st space walk (Leonov, 1965)
• 1st photos of the far side of the Moon
3/ Those accomplishments brought out a sense of global Soviet swagger.
They also brought out the Russian sense of humor, which was often quite pointed, and also quite funny, during the Cold War.
fastcompany.com/90361743/how-t…
They also brought out the Russian sense of humor, which was often quite pointed, and also quite funny, during the Cold War.
fastcompany.com/90361743/how-t…
In April 1965, the U.S. government owned 1,767 computers. Total.
Most buildings in downtown DC today have more than 1,767 computers.
Going to the Moon launched the digital revolution.
Going to the Moon had more impact on Earth than on space travel.
fastcompany.com/90361101/how-t…
Most buildings in downtown DC today have more than 1,767 computers.
Going to the Moon launched the digital revolution.
Going to the Moon had more impact on Earth than on space travel.
fastcompany.com/90361101/how-t…
2/ The 60s were a wildly transformative time.
One thing that often gets overlooked is that the '60s were the dawn of the geek.
In 1960, 'technology'—the word itself— really meant military tools — really, the A-bomb and the H-bomb.
Technology meant 'Dr. Strangelove.'
One thing that often gets overlooked is that the '60s were the dawn of the geek.
In 1960, 'technology'—the word itself— really meant military tools — really, the A-bomb and the H-bomb.
Technology meant 'Dr. Strangelove.'
3/ Then we spent a decade watching civilians, at consoles, using computers to do the hardest thing anyone could imagine: Fly to the Moon.
Plus, we had 'The Jetsons' (1962), 'Lost in Space' (1965), 'Star Trek' (1966), '2001: A Space Odyssey' (1968).
Computers were everywhere.
Plus, we had 'The Jetsons' (1962), 'Lost in Space' (1965), 'Star Trek' (1966), '2001: A Space Odyssey' (1968).
Computers were everywhere.
'The U.S. went to the Moon, but all we got back on Earth was Tang & Velcro.'
This is Myth #1 about the race to the Moon in the 1960s.
In fact, NASA didn't give us Tang or Velcro. The stories are better than that.
#Apollo51
fastcompany.com/90361081/my-co…
This is Myth #1 about the race to the Moon in the 1960s.
In fact, NASA didn't give us Tang or Velcro. The stories are better than that.
#Apollo51
fastcompany.com/90361081/my-co…
2/ That's the 9th in my series from last summer exploring the culture of the 1960s & the race to the Moon @FastCompany.
50 short chapters in 50 days, leading to the 50th anniversary of the first Moon landing.
They are great stories for this summer to — leadership & grit.
50 short chapters in 50 days, leading to the 50th anniversary of the first Moon landing.
They are great stories for this summer to — leadership & grit.
3/ Plus: a dose of myth-busting.
Tang may have branded itself alongside the astronauts better than anyone except NASA itself.
(Quick: Name a company that made an Apollo rocket or spacecraft. Now name a drink astronauts drank in space.)
The astronauts didn't even like Tang.
Tang may have branded itself alongside the astronauts better than anyone except NASA itself.
(Quick: Name a company that made an Apollo rocket or spacecraft. Now name a drink astronauts drank in space.)
The astronauts didn't even like Tang.
The computer beep is one of the most common sounds in our lives.
But where did it come from?
The beep came from space.
In fact, we know the moment most people first heard the computer beep:
It was the sound of the 1st spacecraft, Sputnik.
#Apollo51
fastcompany.com/90361076/the-b…
But where did it come from?
The beep came from space.
In fact, we know the moment most people first heard the computer beep:
It was the sound of the 1st spacecraft, Sputnik.
#Apollo51
fastcompany.com/90361076/the-b…
2/ After Sputnik was launched Oct 5, 1957, its distinctive beeping was broadcast on radio & TV across the US & around the world.
Said an NBC news anchor, introducing the sound:
'Listen now for the sound which forever more separates the old from the new.'
Turned out to be true.
Said an NBC news anchor, introducing the sound:
'Listen now for the sound which forever more separates the old from the new.'
Turned out to be true.
3/ This is #8 in the series from last summer celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Moon landing—the incredible work it took to get Americans to the Moon in the 1960s.
These stories have great resonance for this summer as well — ordinary people making the impossible possible.
These stories have great resonance for this summer as well — ordinary people making the impossible possible.
You can't talk about flying to the Moon in the 1960s without talking about smoking. About cigarettes.
People building spaceships smoked.
People running Moon missions smoked.
Astronauts smoked.
America smoked.
fastcompany.com/90359002/why-y…
#Apollo51
People building spaceships smoked.
People running Moon missions smoked.
Astronauts smoked.
America smoked.
fastcompany.com/90359002/why-y…
#Apollo51
2/ Apollo was shrouded in smoke.
The MD who helped pick the first astronauts smoked.
Mission Control smelled of stale cigarettes, 24 hours a day.
One Apollo astronaut who smoked bummed a cigarette from a sailor who helped recovered him and his crewmates in the Pacific.
The MD who helped pick the first astronauts smoked.
Mission Control smelled of stale cigarettes, 24 hours a day.
One Apollo astronaut who smoked bummed a cigarette from a sailor who helped recovered him and his crewmates in the Pacific.
3/ This is #7 in the series I did last summer on the race to the Moon in the 1960s @FastCompany.
50 small moments from the incredible effort it took us to get to the Moon, leading up to the July 20, 1969 anniversary.
Those stories are perfect for this moment, too.
50 small moments from the incredible effort it took us to get to the Moon, leading up to the July 20, 1969 anniversary.
Those stories are perfect for this moment, too.
What was the wackiest idea during the design of the spaceships that flew to the Moon?
A rope.
An early design of the lunar module had no ladder to get from hatch to the Moon's surface.
Astronauts would shimmy down a rope. (See below.)
#Apollo51
fastcompany.com/90358794/the-d…
A rope.
An early design of the lunar module had no ladder to get from hatch to the Moon's surface.
Astronauts would shimmy down a rope. (See below.)
#Apollo51
fastcompany.com/90358794/the-d…
2/ There were serious reasons for avoiding a ladder.
But the rope was just goofy. Astronaut Ed White tested out shimmying down—& climbing back up.
He wasn't happy.
Read about it below—from last year's Apollo series, '50 Days to the Moon' @FastCompany
fastcompany.com/90358794/the-d…
But the rope was just goofy. Astronaut Ed White tested out shimmying down—& climbing back up.
He wasn't happy.
Read about it below—from last year's Apollo series, '50 Days to the Moon' @FastCompany
fastcompany.com/90358794/the-d…
3/ That's #6 in the series I wrote last summer about the race to the Moon in the 60s: The ordinary Americans who did the impossible.
It is the perfect story for right now.
We know how to solve problems. We often do the impossible. Together.
Series here:
fastcompany.com/section/50-day…
It is the perfect story for right now.
We know how to solve problems. We often do the impossible. Together.
Series here:
fastcompany.com/section/50-day…
One of the great myths of the race to the Moon in the 1960s:
Americans were all-in on going to the Moon — we wholeheartedly supported the idea.
Nope.
#Apollo51
fastcompany.com/90358309/do-yo…
Americans were all-in on going to the Moon — we wholeheartedly supported the idea.
Nope.
#Apollo51
fastcompany.com/90358309/do-yo…
2/ That's #5 in the series I wrote last year @FastCompany about the race to the Moon—'50 Days to the Moon.'
50 short pieces about the ordinary people who did the impossible. The perfect story for right now.
That Apollo didn't poll well doesn't reduce the achievement.
50 short pieces about the ordinary people who did the impossible. The perfect story for right now.
That Apollo didn't poll well doesn't reduce the achievement.
3/ As there seem now to be waves of societal change all at once, that is how the 1960s were.
Politics.
Civil rights.
Feminism.
Vietnam.
Protests.
Sex.
Rock & roll.
We changed American in the 1960s. And went to the Moon.
First 10 of the series here.
fastcompany.com/section/50-day…
Politics.
Civil rights.
Feminism.
Vietnam.
Protests.
Sex.
Rock & roll.
We changed American in the 1960s. And went to the Moon.
First 10 of the series here.
fastcompany.com/section/50-day…
At the dawn of the space age in 1957, the Russians crushed the Americans.
They didn't just beat the US into space, they did it over and over.
1st satellite.
1st animal to orbit.
1st probe to the Moon.
It wasn't just bad. It was humiliating.
#Apollo51
fastcompany.com/90358292/how-t…
They didn't just beat the US into space, they did it over and over.
1st satellite.
1st animal to orbit.
1st probe to the Moon.
It wasn't just bad. It was humiliating.
#Apollo51
fastcompany.com/90358292/how-t…
2/ That's #4 in the series I wrote last year @FastCompany about the race to the Moon in the 1960s—'50 Days to the Moon.'
50 short pieces in 50 days, leading to the anniversary of the 1st Moon landing.
The ordinary people who did the impossible. The perfect story for right now.
50 short pieces in 50 days, leading to the anniversary of the 1st Moon landing.
The ordinary people who did the impossible. The perfect story for right now.
3/ Check 'em out.
Nice to be reminded what we accomplish when we band together.
Not 'can' accomplish — do accomplish.
And the 1960s weren't exactly a calm decade in which to do the impossible.
First 11 of the 50 collected here:
fastcompany.com/section/50-day…
Nice to be reminded what we accomplish when we band together.
Not 'can' accomplish — do accomplish.
And the 1960s weren't exactly a calm decade in which to do the impossible.
First 11 of the 50 collected here:
fastcompany.com/section/50-day…
Why did we go to the Moon in the 1960s?
In the most immediate sense, we went because Pres. John F. Kennedy gave a speech saying America…
'…should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon & returning him safely to the Earth.'
In the most immediate sense, we went because Pres. John F. Kennedy gave a speech saying America…
'…should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon & returning him safely to the Earth.'
2/ JFK gave that 'go to the Moon' speech on a Thursday, at 12:30 pm, May 25, 1961—addressing both houses of Congress.
Yup, a midweek, midday major presidential speech. The Kennedy White House called it a 'Second State of the Union.'
It unequivocally launched the Moon race.
Yup, a midweek, midday major presidential speech. The Kennedy White House called it a 'Second State of the Union.'
It unequivocally launched the Moon race.
3/ But JFK didn't want to give the speech. He wanted to send the text up to the House & Senate & let pages read it into the record.
Would we have gone to the Moon if pages had read the speech instead of JFK delivering it live to the nation?
#Apollo51
fastcompany.com/90357583/this-…
Would we have gone to the Moon if pages had read the speech instead of JFK delivering it live to the nation?
#Apollo51
fastcompany.com/90357583/this-…
