Little episode of the conquest of the moon
February 1971.
Appolon-14 is in orbit of the Moon and is preparing for the landing of the lunar module.
A pair of turns remains before descending from orbit. The MCC in Houston checks the data of the computer of the lunar module and sees that the Abort switch is activated - a button for dividing the steps of the lunar module and turning on its engines (emergency take-off from the lunar surface). Houston clears this bit, but after an hour it is again equal to one, as if the button was pressed. What the hell?
The pilot of the lunar module, at the request of the MCC, knocks on the switch panel - the unit disappears. It is clear that in the button chain the wiring or a drop of solder dangles and automatically closes and opens the contact. You can not sit with this, because when shaken, the contact will certainly close and the lunar module will take off abnormally, without having lounged.
')
Two hours remain to solve the problem - the time of one Apollo revolution around the Moon.
The programmer of the lunar module Donald Isles in the middle of the night is pulled out of bed by Air Force officers, they report that he has 90 minutes to solve the problem, and they are taking him to Massachusetts technology in his pajamas. There he writes a patch patch in his laboratory that allows him to bypass the emergency takeoff signal, and then activate again. Houston gets a patch, tests it on the Apollo 14 simulator, and - thank gods - it works!
The code was read to astronauts when the ship was already on the landing round. As a result, the module with astronauts sat down (although not without other problems) in the area of the Fra Mauro crater, and the lunar mission was completed.
A drop of solder, a 23-year-old programmer and 400,000 kilometers between them.
(Isles finger lies on the very button)
1. World Manned Cosmonautics. Story. Equipment. People
2. Donald Isles. Tales of the lunar module (eng.)
Appolon-14 is in orbit of the Moon and is preparing for the landing of the lunar module.
A pair of turns remains before descending from orbit. The MCC in Houston checks the data of the computer of the lunar module and sees that the Abort switch is activated - a button for dividing the steps of the lunar module and turning on its engines (emergency take-off from the lunar surface). Houston clears this bit, but after an hour it is again equal to one, as if the button was pressed. What the hell?
The pilot of the lunar module, at the request of the MCC, knocks on the switch panel - the unit disappears. It is clear that in the button chain the wiring or a drop of solder dangles and automatically closes and opens the contact. You can not sit with this, because when shaken, the contact will certainly close and the lunar module will take off abnormally, without having lounged.
')
Two hours remain to solve the problem - the time of one Apollo revolution around the Moon.
The programmer of the lunar module Donald Isles in the middle of the night is pulled out of bed by Air Force officers, they report that he has 90 minutes to solve the problem, and they are taking him to Massachusetts technology in his pajamas. There he writes a patch patch in his laboratory that allows him to bypass the emergency takeoff signal, and then activate again. Houston gets a patch, tests it on the Apollo 14 simulator, and - thank gods - it works!
The code was read to astronauts when the ship was already on the landing round. As a result, the module with astronauts sat down (although not without other problems) in the area of the Fra Mauro crater, and the lunar mission was completed.
A drop of solder, a 23-year-old programmer and 400,000 kilometers between them.
(Isles finger lies on the very button)
1. World Manned Cosmonautics. Story. Equipment. People
2. Donald Isles. Tales of the lunar module (eng.)
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/363973/
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