Featured Project
Digital Apollo: Human and Machine in Spaceflight
As Apollo 11's Lunar Module descended toward
the moon under automatic control, a program alarm in the guidance
computer’s
software nearly caused a mission abort. Neil Armstrong responded
by switching off the automatic mode and taking direct control.
He stopped monitoring the computer and began flying the spacecraft,
relying on skill to land it and earning praise for a triumph
of human over machine.
In Digital
Apollo, engineer-historian David Mindell takes this
famous moment as a starting point for an exploration of the relationship
between humans and computers in the Apollo program. In each of
the six Apollo landings, the astronaut in command seized control
from the computer and landed with his hand on the stick. Mindell
recounts the story of astronauts' desire to control their spacecraft
in parallel with the history of the Apollo Guidance Computer.
From the early days of aviation through the birth of spaceflight,
test pilots and astronauts sought to be more than "spam
in a can" despite the automatic controls, digital computers,
and software developed by engineers. Digital Apollo examines
the design and execution of each of the six Apollo moon landings,
drawing on transcripts and data telemetry from the flights, astronaut
interviews, and NASA's extensive archives.
Mindell's exploration of how human pilots and automated systems
worked together to achieve the ultimate in flight--a lunar landing--traces
and reframes the debate over the future of humans and automation
in space. The results have implications for any venture in which
human roles seem threatened by automated systems, whether it
is the work at our desktops or the future of exploration.
Courtesy of MIT Press. For more information about
the book, click
here.
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