Tuesday, July 20, 2010

What did a 404 error signify in the Apollo 11 computer guidance system?

Buzz Aldrin removing the passive seismometer f...Image via Wikipedia
Today is the 41st anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, and I'm too busy celebrating to write an original Truly Trivial piece. Thus, I leave you with one of my old Geek Trivia columns regarding some historically significant computer errors experienced during Apollo 11:
When Apollo 11 set forth for the moon in 1969, it carried with it what were then arguably the two most advanced computers ever built. The Apollo Guidance Computer — two of which went on every manned moon mission — was the first computer to use integrated circuitry and was thus the first modern embedded computer system ever put to use. ...
That isn’t to say the Apollo Guidance Computer — advanced as it was for its era — was error free. The AGC that ran the Apollo 11 lunar module’s Primary Navigation, Guidance, and Control System (PNGCS, pronounced pings) malfunctioned during the first lunar descent. Fortunately, the error codes 1201 and 1202 didn’t faze Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong when they popped up, informing the astronauts of a critical buffer overflow. ... 
If the Apollo Guidance Computer had thrown a 404 error, it might have been a different story.

WHAT DID A 404 ERROR CODE SIGNIFY IN THE APOLLO GUIDANCE COMPUTER SOFTWARE SYSTEM?
Find out here.
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