Restorers Try to Get Lunar Module Guidance Computer Up and Running | WSJ

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  • Опубліковано 10 вер 2019
  • In 1976 in a warehouse in Texas, Jimmie Loocke bought two tons of scrapped NASA equipment. Years later he realized it included a computer from an Apollo lunar module, like the one used to guide the lander to the surface of the moon during Apollo 11. Fifty years after that mission, computer restoration experts in Silicon Valley are trying to get his computer working again.
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  • Наука та технологія

КОМЕНТАРІ • 3,4 тис.

  • @moondancer6852
    @moondancer6852 4 роки тому +1822

    For reasons passing understanding, this video falsely asserts that they did it all in two weeks, which really undersells just how much effort this crew went through. It took MONTHS of work. The first video in the series Marc did came out Nov 13, 2018
    and the final working run wasn't posted until Jul 16, 2019. The whole team did an amazing job, over a long period of time.

    • @Wizardofgosz
      @Wizardofgosz 3 роки тому +119

      Yup. Karl built an Arduino based DSKY clone (seen in this video). Marc's company REMANUFACTURED pins and connectors necessary to interface with it, from original blueprints. Mike has been tirelessly archiving, finding, and saving the various software versions the various missions flew. Sadly, some might remain lost to time, but Mike will leave no stone unturned.
      Truly astounding work from some really smart people.

    • @crosstian
      @crosstian Рік тому +38

      Lol thanks WSJ, quality journalism

    • @OptimusWombat
      @OptimusWombat Рік тому +17

      @@crosstian it's owned by Rupert Murdochs' News Corp. What do you expect?

    • @voornaam3191
      @voornaam3191 Рік тому +17

      Seen a video of women weaving the ROM memory modules. In these years your fingers could touch the individual bits of the operating system. Rome was not built in one year.

    • @voornaam3191
      @voornaam3191 Рік тому +1

      @@Wizardofgosz And when they really complete this project, they can go to Cape Carnivoral (or what was it) and launch that thing again. How cool is that?

  • @MLGxBXRxPRO
    @MLGxBXRxPRO 4 роки тому +2119

    The brain power in that room is freaking impressive. I felt dumb just watching

    • @jamesaustralian9829
      @jamesaustralian9829 4 роки тому +27

      When it comes to real hands on work I doubt any of them could fix a leaking tap or change a tyre on a car.

    • @MLGxBXRxPRO
      @MLGxBXRxPRO 4 роки тому +142

      @@jamesaustralian9829 id rather have their smarts than what i have now i can change a motor on any car but would love to have their smarts.

    • @kennylex
      @kennylex 4 роки тому +135

      You can compensate by watching a flat-earth video, that make everyone feel smarter.

    • @drvonschwartz
      @drvonschwartz 4 роки тому +85

      @@jamesaustralian9829 This is "real hands on work"

    • @travispratt6327
      @travispratt6327 4 роки тому +73

      James Australian What’s your point? Even if they didn’t they could learn very easily... I work on electronics and I work on cars and currently I am a handyman doing odd jobs, the only difference is electronics requires much more thinking and figuring out and following complex mapping. Working with cars or houses or what you seem to think is “hands on” is the same as electronics without the complex mapping and whatnot. You still have to take apart, fix, solder, replace parts, all the stuff you do with cars and houses.

  • @charlesbeaudry3263
    @charlesbeaudry3263 Рік тому +15

    This computer is absolutey priceless. Congratulations to the whole team.

  • @asten8049
    @asten8049 4 роки тому +44

    It couldn't had ended up in better hands. Well done guys. You saved this piece of history from the junkyard. You can all be very proud of yourselves!!!

  • @nickygee5611
    @nickygee5611 4 роки тому +416

    It's so awesome that he chose to restore the AGC. He easily could have just auctioned it off, made a couple hundred grand and called it a day. Taking the time and effort to get it up and running makes the whole thing just so much cooler.

    • @marktrick100
      @marktrick100 Рік тому +22

      Money means nothing at their age

    • @niklasdahlgren7641
      @niklasdahlgren7641 Рік тому +19

      Money is fleeting, making history is eternal.

    • @anandchundi6805
      @anandchundi6805 Рік тому +7

      Yeah because now he can auction it off for more and he paid nothing to have it repaired

    • @slycooper1001
      @slycooper1001 Рік тому +7

      this is why my mom thinks my plans to restore a 1st gen dell professional computer and dell branded crt is silly
      since the computer is literally 32 years old runs ms-dos and has only 3 and 5 inch floppy drives
      and the crt would have shipped with the computer but is currently a paper weight due to the h.o.t. burning out
      i need to take a crt apart and de-electrify the picture tube as i do a full deep clean and repair the horizontal output transistor and diagnose any other issues with it before i can actually start using that computer with that old old screen from 1992

    • @andrewkaminskas7721
      @andrewkaminskas7721 Рік тому +2

      @@slycooper1001 cool story dude

  • @Mike_Davidson
    @Mike_Davidson 4 роки тому +1926

    *2 KB worth of RAM and a 4 MHz CPU landed Apollo 11 on the moon. It's really hard to comprehend that in 2019.* 😂😂😂😂

    • @anthonyc4138
      @anthonyc4138 4 роки тому +26

      Lol yep

    • @candykanefpv98
      @candykanefpv98 4 роки тому +79

      AL Ian my computer has 8 million times more ram and 1250x the clock speed.

    • @Mike_Davidson
      @Mike_Davidson 4 роки тому +113

      @@candykanefpv98 I'm thinking it could get you to Alpha Centauri then. 😂😂😂

    • @TheNefastor
      @TheNefastor 4 роки тому +145

      I've recently had the misfortune of cleaning up embedded C code written by 2019 graduates who only know Python. Yeah, to such kids, I'm sure 2 KB is way too little... don't tell them it's all you really need if you're going to navigate to another planet, they'd have nightmares.

    • @candykanefpv98
      @candykanefpv98 4 роки тому +28

      @@TheNefastor I have no doubt that some of the smaller rockets that are sent into space have about the computing power of my TV. Possibly with a raspberry pi like computer with a mobile chip.

  • @aerospacematt9147
    @aerospacematt9147 Рік тому +163

    I’d love to see them hook up a control stick and run it as a simulation on a modern computer so that someone can manually “land on the moon” using the AGC. That would be so cool!

    • @Apofoo
      @Apofoo Рік тому

      They did it ! : ua-cam.com/video/r_eBGSe5zEQ/v-deo.html

    • @threebuddies
      @threebuddies Рік тому +14

      CuriousMarc's video Apollo Guidance Computer Part 23: Flying the Apollo 11 Moon Landing with the Original AGC Code and part 24 does this.

    • @360Fov
      @360Fov Рік тому +3

      @@threebuddies Nice dude, thanks!

    • @SEELE-ONE
      @SEELE-ONE 7 місяців тому +8

      Yeah! Like one of those Logitech controllers used to steer submarines!

    • @DavidBcc
      @DavidBcc 7 місяців тому +1

      You'd need to hook it up to Stanley Kubrick's camera dollies in order for it to reproduce the moon-landing.

  • @georgeclarke3333
    @georgeclarke3333 9 місяців тому +4

    I started working on circuit boards in the 80s but found it advantageous to look back at previous designs to understand current designs of circuits. It’s best not to trash old equipment once it’s gone it’s gone.

  • @freedayfamily9974
    @freedayfamily9974 4 роки тому +763

    And today you have people with the latest smartphones and still believe that the earth is flat.

    • @CMWeaver
      @CMWeaver 4 роки тому +22

      lego and slime family * still believe we lost the technology to leave low earth orbit

    • @tomo8324
      @tomo8324 4 роки тому +16

      @@CMWeaver no, they would say that we destroyed it cuz nasa bla bla bla conspiracy stuffs

    • @TheEagleofSteel
      @TheEagleofSteel 4 роки тому +3

      You should listen to Alex Jones. The whole thing is a liberal conspiracy.

    • @jamestor6700
      @jamestor6700 4 роки тому +3

      @@CMWeaver what do you call the ISS? pretty sure thats low earth orbit

    • @jamestor6700
      @jamestor6700 4 роки тому +34

      @@TheEagleofSteel Alex Jones is one of the dumbest people you could listen to

  • @525Lines
    @525Lines 4 роки тому +524

    I watched every bit of the videos they posted about the restoration. Amazingly interesting stuff. Hearing the programs were gone, nothing could run it, nobody knew nothing about nothing, so gratifying to see the restoration bring together the programmers and run the program.

    • @jgordon7719
      @jgordon7719 4 роки тому +18

      I wish they would have recapped going to the history museum to get a working piece of test software, the only machine known to have it

    • @525Lines
      @525Lines 4 роки тому +17

      @@jgordon7719 I forget if they went to more than one museum but there are data carts that still hold the programs 50 years later. One of the programmers had several of them.

    • @jgordon7719
      @jgordon7719 4 роки тому +2

      Sure in isolation I'm sure that's true

    • @theannoyedmrfloyd3998
      @theannoyedmrfloyd3998 4 роки тому +12

      They got a chance to see read the other program memory modules.

    • @525Lines
      @525Lines 4 роки тому +6

      @@theannoyedmrfloyd3998 Don't know about the air and space museum but they've tried several memory modules including from at least one museum. I'm assuming they backed up the data of everything they tried.

  • @freguerfont4768
    @freguerfont4768 Рік тому +17

    It hurts me that such historical artifacts ended up as scrap instead of in a museum or a historical collection but, on the other hand, it may had been this that made it possible for this computer to end up in the right hands after all, and I'm happy it did!

  • @brandona1370
    @brandona1370 4 роки тому +18

    I watched this series on Marc's UA-cam channel from day one and it was an incredible journey!! The series has some incredible moments and absolutely worth checking out. As a space tech enthusiast, I wish I had enough brain power to have had even a small part in this project.

  • @personwhotalkstomuch4898
    @personwhotalkstomuch4898 4 роки тому +277

    It still amazes me that something so complex at the time was the start of the computer tech that we now take for granted. To me it seems unbelieveable that our mobile phones contain more circuits & processing power etc than the ones that actually landed man on the Moon. Congratulations to Marc & his team for preserving a very special part of exploration history.

    • @chrisvig123
      @chrisvig123 2 роки тому +24

      These computers were actually very simplistic devices…sophisticated for the time maybe but even a scientific calculator from the 80’s is far more powerful 😯

    • @Chris_at_Home
      @Chris_at_Home Рік тому +8

      @@chrisvig123 The progress in electronics is amazing. I first worked in a TV repair shop in 1969 as a kid 16yo and except for a few years I worked in electronics and communications my whole work career.
      My Dad worked on building the Apollo fuel cells

    • @PeterKocic
      @PeterKocic Рік тому +6

      Your normal Texas Instrument-82 school calculator had more juice,,, your smart phone is light years ahead of this.

    • @TheBrainn
      @TheBrainn Рік тому +6

      That’s such an understatement, the integrated technology in your digital watch is more advanced than this very brick that got man on the moon.

    • @TamponTea
      @TamponTea Рік тому +8

      we never went to the moon

  • @JMNTLRDRX
    @JMNTLRDRX 4 роки тому +1423

    Our modern computers have tons of memory and CPU speed, just to watch porn and memes.

    • @RiXFortuna
      @RiXFortuna 4 роки тому +85

      Indeed, and that highlights human genius and stupidity altogether

    • @turdfergusonnwo
      @turdfergusonnwo 4 роки тому +24

      Dang Jose , how many names you need ?

    • @mssedmebich1621
      @mssedmebich1621 4 роки тому +40

      You say that like it's a Bad Thing.

    • @julian.castro18
      @julian.castro18 4 роки тому

      @@mssedmebich1621 right?

    • @egeniojaramillo9048
      @egeniojaramillo9048 4 роки тому +14

      Umm, what? You’re just going to forget cats and cat related media???

  • @CIS101
    @CIS101 9 місяців тому +5

    Even just getting it cleaned up, performing repairs, and diagnostics is an achievement.

  • @ScubaAnt72
    @ScubaAnt72 3 роки тому +7

    So glad these guys are preserving this amazing machine! To have it power up and run after such a long time is an amazing achievement.

  • @itubeutubewealltube1
    @itubeutubewealltube1 4 роки тому +152

    When androids rule the world they will be thankful and, therefore, merciful to their organic creators for keeping alive their ancestors.

    • @sheldonspock5566
      @sheldonspock5566 4 роки тому +2

      haha!

    • @kimjong-un4411
      @kimjong-un4411 4 роки тому +6

      Dude that’s heavy

    • @biblebadcopycatofcuneiform8210
      @biblebadcopycatofcuneiform8210 4 роки тому +4

      "When androids rule the world they will be thankful and, therefore, merciful to their organic creators for keeping alive their ancestors."
      Haha! "Gratitude" is a human invention for organized religious reasons of control. Androids won't rule the world, but also...they won't deal in gratitude. Gratitude is learned from other people, not coded. I also get your humor and smiled.

    • @mikkel066h
      @mikkel066h 4 роки тому

      Michael T it was a joke you idiot....

    • @teemuleppa3347
      @teemuleppa3347 4 роки тому

      @@mikkel066h read his comment fully......oh, almost forgot: you idiot! .... learn some basic human interaction

  • @glidershower
    @glidershower 4 роки тому +157

    The past must be studied in order to understand our present and then plan for our future.
    Old tech is always a humbling kick right in the commodity of what we take for granted!

    • @glidershower
      @glidershower 4 роки тому +12

      @Oliver Williamson The single purpose of history is exactly that, to see beyond our own life, to share the experiences of the many that were here before us, and to ensure our progress does not get reset generation after generation.
      To claim something is fake because you cannot see it by your own eyes is to not appreciate human consciousness.

    • @alexhawkins1795
      @alexhawkins1795 4 роки тому +6

      Well said Mr. Binary.

    • @glidershower
      @glidershower 4 роки тому +3

      @Oliver Williamson That's one blue pill/suppository I always managed to dodge.
      Don't trascend, friend.

    • @glidershower
      @glidershower 4 роки тому +2

      @Oliver Williamson Solipsism is a literal slippery mind slope.

    • @Mrsmifff
      @Mrsmifff 4 роки тому +3

      Mate I'm surprised our species hasn't wiped itself out with the over abundance of mindless sheep fueling the rich and powerful.

  • @mehdisol7094
    @mehdisol7094 Рік тому +3

    i am so disapointed that nasa discarded those computer after the mission and not keeping them in a museum for everyone to see

  • @deirdreorourke8631
    @deirdreorourke8631 Рік тому +9

    Big thanks to Jimmie Locke for finding and taking care of this computer, and to CuriousMarc for producing such an amazing series about the restoration

  • @mcitheaterclass537
    @mcitheaterclass537 4 роки тому +458

    I'm surprised it didn't churn for a long time and then spit out a response: "42."

    • @davidlewis1787
      @davidlewis1787 4 роки тому +13

      You’re really not going to like it

    • @QuasarRedshift
      @QuasarRedshift 4 роки тому +13

      no, but it did generate a '404 Error' . . . (lol)

    • @OzziePete1
      @OzziePete1 4 роки тому

      THAT would be so Zen.....Like a perfect circle response.

    • @dT6E7hmja4iXjsJw
      @dT6E7hmja4iXjsJw 4 роки тому +7

      Well, if it was allowed to run for 10 million years straight, perhaps it would.

    • @ut000bs
      @ut000bs 4 роки тому +27

      “'You know,' said Arthur, 'it’s at times like this, when I’m trapped in a Vogon airlock with a man from Betelgeuse, and about to die of asphyxiation in deep space that I really wish I’d listened to what my mother told me when I was young.'
      'Why, what did she tell you?'
      'I don’t know, I didn’t listen.'"

  • @ideafix13
    @ideafix13 4 роки тому +30

    I'm an electronic professor from Barcelona and I explain the students what is the AGC and show them the schematics. I wish they are fascinated as me!!! Thank you.

    • @jesusalfredofernandezcruz1833
      @jesusalfredofernandezcruz1833 4 роки тому +3

      La "old lady" memory o la ROM hecha a costura, una de las responsables de que el AGC, pidiera sobrevivir a dos impactos de relámpagos y a la sobrecarga dada por el radar de aproximación lunar, se podía apagar y encender sin perder sus últimos datos de trabajo. Dios!!,quisieras que las computadoras de hoy tuvieran ese nivel de confiabilidad, como con el AGC alguna vez tuvo.
      Saludos.

    • @drummonkeystuffuk1875
      @drummonkeystuffuk1875 4 роки тому

      THe schem drawings would be like a magnet to me..i love techno stuff like this!

    • @azerty20492
      @azerty20492 4 роки тому

      La tecnología que fue creada a mano fue impresionante . Aunque nada a cambiado no existe otra technologia . Lo impresionante es ver como todos esos cables se cruzan entre si.

  • @shawnmurdock8059
    @shawnmurdock8059 Рік тому +4

    This is fantastic. I am glad I found it. THanks guys for restoring this awesome piece of history. Hard to believe that all that equipment would "fit" into a simple chip today.

  • @honkhonk8009
    @honkhonk8009 7 місяців тому +8

    This is the rare Wall Street Journal video that isnt complete BRAINROT.
    I really like the narrator imo.
    WSJ should keep this team around. They have a knack for finding quality content.

  • @donmoore7785
    @donmoore7785 4 роки тому +112

    This was a thoroughly fascinating project. I watched all the videos. Simply amazing. When they powered up the computer memory, and recovered the last state of the computer in magnetic memory - including the latitude and longitude - you felt like you were there 50 years ago. A very impressive achievement. This was most deserving of being featured by WSJ - it is very inspirational for our creators of the future.

    • @Roach_Dogg_JR
      @Roach_Dogg_JR Рік тому +3

      Love that it goes right back to doings it’s job, even though it’s 50 years later. The little computer just does it’s job no questions asked

  • @tomservo5007
    @tomservo5007 4 роки тому +67

    CuriousMarc's video series on this was a nail bitter --- every video was gold and I couldn't wait for the next one. The last video was so satisfying.

  • @666Eidolon666
    @666Eidolon666 4 роки тому +13

    When they turn on the guidance system... suddenly the lunar lander in the National Air and Space Museum fires up and starts flying around randomly :D

  • @MikeKobb
    @MikeKobb Рік тому +2

    I watched every one of Marc's videos. It was an incredible achievement, and one that I hope will be celebrated for years.

  • @capablanca5611
    @capablanca5611 4 роки тому +8

    I am an enthusiast of the Apollo missions. I love to see a group of sinior gentlemen dedicated with passion to recover the past for the next generations. I congratulate you and wish you success and recognition in this noble venture.

    • @MrDaiseymay
      @MrDaiseymay 4 роки тому +1

      get your medication checked out

  • @francoismonast4186
    @francoismonast4186 4 роки тому +12

    Good job, thank's for preserving a
    great part of space exploration history.

  • @SAMZIRRA
    @SAMZIRRA Рік тому +1

    This is really cool! I am feeling so excited watching their smiles as they powered it back up.

  • @philmayf
    @philmayf 3 роки тому +57

    I remember following along with the progress on Marc's channel. It's such an interesting trip through reverse engineering with some heavyweights. Ken Shirriff is such a titan of reversing silicon that it's crazy. It's amazing they sussed out the inner workings and managed to make it work at all.

  • @stevedoubleu99B
    @stevedoubleu99B 4 роки тому +5

    Remarkable, what a worthwhile project. Well done guys.

  • @MarcelHuguenin
    @MarcelHuguenin 4 роки тому +48

    Nice to see this video about the project. Sad to read so many comments of people who don't know what they are saying instead of informing themselves. Obviously, I watched the whole series of videos on Curiousmarc's channel and as so many people who comment here I couldn't wait for the next one. This was an amazing project by Marc and his team and to quote Jimmy Loocke: "I hope many people will be able to see this computer many years from now".

    • @ciuzdamm
      @ciuzdamm 4 роки тому

      Sad to read your comment: just because you watched the whole series of Curiousmarc doesn't make you well informed.

    • @0623kaboom
      @0623kaboom 4 роки тому +3

      even the series didnt cover all the tech .... but it did highlight a load of it ... I think the best part of was the MIT old video of the ladies assembling the memory cores and rom for it ... BY HAND

    • @erikbakker1531
      @erikbakker1531 4 роки тому +3

      "Two hundred years from now I want people te see this computer."
      That sentence was beautiful. I hope that one day, around the year 2219, some people will say: "Thank you. We will take good care of it."
      (And then again, in 2419, etc 🙂)

    • @MarcelHuguenin
      @MarcelHuguenin 4 роки тому

      Erik Bakker precies!

    • @looneytoons2878
      @looneytoons2878 Рік тому +1

      All that brain power to fake the moon landing's impressive

  • @24kRobot
    @24kRobot 4 роки тому +2

    This is awesome! A team of hobbyists who are professionals from different generations.

  • @robleary3353
    @robleary3353 Рік тому +8

    Nice one!. I can remember being a young boy in the late seventies going with my father to work on several weekends, they were working on one of the first computerised credit card systems in the UK, possibly the first kn the world (waits for gnashing of teeth etc, have the dates of it going live). They were writing code on machines that only had 32k of memory, it took half of that to get them going.... They did it, I still have the keyring Dad got from IBM (a 'failed' memory chip) encased in plastic after a business trip to the USA to get the kit needed. This kind of kit needs to be preserved!. I might add, my first home computer only had 64k of ram in the eighties... Gòod on you!.

  • @dbaider9467
    @dbaider9467 4 роки тому +12

    That man is a true Patriot. What an irreplaceable gift he has bestowed.

  • @larryscott3982
    @larryscott3982 4 роки тому +81

    Hey WSJ, help get a 2 hr PBS NOVA documentary going.
    Marc’s multipart restoration video series is award winning.
    And pair his vids with contemporary documentary films. It’s worth it!!

    • @jgordon7719
      @jgordon7719 4 роки тому +1

      Unfortunately I don't think the public has the attention span. But I absolutely love the series, and his UA-cam channel

    • @larryscott3982
      @larryscott3982 4 роки тому +4

      J Gordon
      Not the public at large, but s subset.
      Look how popular Curious Marc’s AGC restoration series is. And with a creative intro interest to a significant audience exists.

    • @jgordon7719
      @jgordon7719 4 роки тому +2

      @@larryscott3982 another great series was the Xerox alto. These are life changing technological Marvel's in history that I feel like almost nobody knows about

    • @larryscott3982
      @larryscott3982 4 роки тому

      J Gordon
      Marc’s vids are really engaging.

    • @darkpepsi
      @darkpepsi 4 роки тому

      I agree after last year’s Nova episode of Apollo’s Daring Mission.

  • @swafflemanish
    @swafflemanish 3 роки тому +1

    This is so cool. Brought a little tear to my eye. My grandfather worked for nasa back in the day, they lived in Huntsville then.

  • @robertphillips6296
    @robertphillips6296 Рік тому +1

    Thank You for posting this!

  • @TechWithBabak
    @TechWithBabak 4 роки тому +6

    What a noble challenge: putting the effort to preserve for future generations this computer system and hard wired programming.

  • @patrickguinnane
    @patrickguinnane 4 роки тому +5

    I loved learning about Core Rope Memory after watching the other videos...so cool

  • @bvrod
    @bvrod 29 днів тому

    Thanks for those that took the challenging restoration adventure and shared with us. As a lay person that used to program Motorola R2 kits using JBUG back in late 70’s I get an immense sense of pride of human ingenuity from those that built these things in those pioneering days. Just truly amazing what people can achieve when put to a common task.

  • @adamhuffman3354
    @adamhuffman3354 7 місяців тому +1

    So neat! Nice piece of history restored! Great video!

  • @MrLathor
    @MrLathor 4 роки тому +8

    Really cool that a guy like Jimmie managed to find that computer. What cool project!

  • @fugamante
    @fugamante 4 роки тому +18

    #HumansAreAwesome
    Thank you guys for tackling such a beautiful endeavor.

  • @paulkocyla1343
    @paulkocyla1343 7 місяців тому +6

    Beeing a space engineer, I got a tear in my eyes after each episode.
    It´s an important and great achievement that those guys have done.

  • @toddb930
    @toddb930 4 роки тому +4

    I'm impressed that the young guy was willing to learn the restrictions the designers had in the 60's. Those guys had to work at the lowest levels to get those pieces working. And no compilers to transfer a high level programming language into a binary representation the electronics could understand.
    I started working with electronics in the early 70's. This video brought back memories.

  • @monsterq6
    @monsterq6 4 роки тому +18

    What an inspiring story of unlikely heroes. Kudos to all these guys for recognizing the culturally significant items and doing such great work. Very great story. I also love how they came together in a quasi-u official guerilla style. Super cool. Reminded me of oceans 11 haha.

  • @Republic3D
    @Republic3D 4 роки тому +17

    I'd love to have a replica of this. Powered by Rasberry Pii or something similar. Lots of companies make components for flight simulator cockpits and so on, so maybe one of them could try to make a Lunar Module Guidence Computer replica. Just the interface part of course.

  • @stephenconway2468
    @stephenconway2468 Рік тому +1

    Bravo. We need people like this.

  • @nicolemellott1983
    @nicolemellott1983 5 місяців тому

    keep up the great work restoring these gems of history Thank you

  • @jackmacdonald8499
    @jackmacdonald8499 4 роки тому +4

    I watched the entire series of restoration videos without understanding the backstory presented in the wsj video. Marc's series is a must watch for any computer geek.

    • @MrDaiseymay
      @MrDaiseymay 4 роки тому

      ran out of detective books?

  • @stitcherlives
    @stitcherlives 4 роки тому +9

    CuriousMarc is the channel and if you watched this you NEED to watch the full restoration over there pronto. Amazing job.

  • @jtr549
    @jtr549 4 роки тому +7

    What a legend, the value of all this stuff will be insane in 200 years, so strange how they were just throwing this stuff away in the 70's.

  • @codingvio7383
    @codingvio7383 7 місяців тому +2

    This guidance computer shows how innovative and ahead of its time this computer was. It also demonstrates how the experts managed to build something that nobody can really recreate due to it's complexity.

  • @johnabbottphotography
    @johnabbottphotography Рік тому +11

    I was watching the channel when they first started trying to diagnose it.
    The levels of difficulty that they had to deal with are dumbfounding; everything from building their own interfaces to interact with the computer, to creating software that would recreate the "mission" and feed data into the Apollo modules.
    And that was AFTER they had to do things as simple as figuring out which parts of the computer were which; because these are computer parts that any normal tech would be able to recognize.

  • @Nighthawke70
    @Nighthawke70 4 роки тому +7

    Along with the AGC hardware, the advent of software came into being as well. The term "software engineer" was coined by the MIT team.

  • @jeffcanyafixiy
    @jeffcanyafixiy Рік тому

    Just tremendous that this piece of history was not only saved but they were brilliant enough to restore it. BRAVO!! 👍🇺🇸👍🇺🇸

  • @james94582
    @james94582 6 місяців тому

    This is awesome... Regardless of how long it took to get up and running, it is cool to see how something so old and now days outdated could do such monumental task and be such a big part of history

  • @jg5875
    @jg5875 Рік тому +5

    Love this. It’s geeks (in a good way) like them that drive innovation and make the world a better place 👍🏻

  • @Domequike
    @Domequike 4 роки тому +44

    5:34 - is this Scott Manley there in the left??

    • @spinningjenny1629
      @spinningjenny1629 4 роки тому +6

      Yes also made a video about the restauration

    • @Domequike
      @Domequike 4 роки тому +2

      @@spinningjenny1629 nice, thanks

  • @martinfinn674
    @martinfinn674 Рік тому +1

    Great work guys. Your names should go down in history. For the computer restoration work you have done, and for the legacy of the Apollo program.
    The data on these computers is a record of history.
    This is one step for computer restoration, and one giant leap for human history in space.

  • @ChakatNightspark
    @ChakatNightspark Рік тому +1

    Just some info. Apollo 11's onboard guidance computer had a processing speed of 1 MHz, and had about 4 kilobytes of reusable memory. The original Nintendo Game Boy, released in 1989 a mere 20 years after the first moon landing, was four times faster at 4MHz and had double the memory.

  • @brennanlangless8912
    @brennanlangless8912 Рік тому +3

    A round of applause for jimmy loocke and Marc and everyone else who have the drive to restore our historic technology artifacts

  • @speedomars3869
    @speedomars3869 Рік тому +18

    In 1969 a computer like that would have filled the basement of a skyscraper. It would have needed a raised floor for cooling..This device was ten years ahead of its time in an era when a single years advancement doubled processing power. IC chips were invented in 1961 but there was no single chip computer, that did not happen until 1971 at Intel. The machine they are playing with is a nugget of technology. VERY HISTORIC.

    • @kishascape
      @kishascape Рік тому

      Lol no it wouldn’t have. Innovative sure but you’re way overselling it and even for the 60s already 20 years out of date.

    • @speedomars3869
      @speedomars3869 Рік тому +1

      @@kishascape Sure. You were around, right? I was working on IBM mainframes in 1968. What were you doing?

  • @bladactania
    @bladactania Рік тому

    Absolutely amazing! I wish WSJ had included a link to Marc's channel in their description.

  • @13bigerdave
    @13bigerdave 3 роки тому +1

    those guy's are AWESOME I don't really understand a lot of what they are doing , but it is so cool to watch them bring the old equipment back to life ,,,, I feel like Penny on The Big Bang watching them 😁

  • @macbuff81
    @macbuff81 4 роки тому +11

    And now many of us hold the equivalent of supercomputers in our hands every day. Very cool to think how quickly computers have and are still advancing.

    • @lepterfirefall
      @lepterfirefall Рік тому +2

      And we use them to watch videos of piano playing cats....the tech has advanced but have we?

    • @administratioization
      @administratioization 10 місяців тому

      ​@@lepterfirefallit has made us lazy and take things for granted

  • @SandBoxJohn
    @SandBoxJohn 4 роки тому +3

    Thank you Wall Street Journal for broadening the awareness of this restoration project.

  • @cmscms123456
    @cmscms123456 4 роки тому +2

    A buddy of mine worked on electronic and computers for the space program in the 1960s. He said there is no way the US went to the moon, with the state of electronics at that time. It would have taken a building full of wires cables and still vacuum tubes, to get a space ship to the moon.

    • @Agarwaen
      @Agarwaen 3 роки тому

      your "buddy" told you lies

    • @cmscms123456
      @cmscms123456 3 роки тому +1

      @@Agarwaen Hold old are you?

  • @JTCgmail9
    @JTCgmail9 3 роки тому

    The fact we able to document this historical data is in itself a task of love and hard work.

  • @Odin31b
    @Odin31b 4 роки тому +67

    What's the channel mentioned in this video? WSJ doesn't link.

    • @Effectlife
      @Effectlife 4 роки тому +41

      Curiousmarc

    • @donmoore7785
      @donmoore7785 4 роки тому +5

      @@Strothy2 There is no need to be rude and flame the guy asking for help, is there? Imagine if the people in the video were like that - there would be no project like this. They would be working in Wallsmart and happy to be there. Do you work at Wallsmart? It seems that *you* can't write - it is shown "what" it is called, not "how".

    • @Ergzay
      @Ergzay 4 роки тому +8

      ua-cam.com/channels/3bosUr3WlKYm4sBaLs-Adw.html
      CuriousMarc

    • @0623kaboom
      @0623kaboom 4 роки тому +1

      just google making the agc work ... they have many video's on it ... and it is a very interesting set of vid's to watch .... even shows early memory ... the bane of all tech's back then

    • @airleclair
      @airleclair 4 роки тому

      @@Effectlife Scott Manley was in the video, so he may have something on his as well.

  • @jaydavis6558
    @jaydavis6558 4 роки тому +4

    Many years ago I met a Radiologist in New York that had a flight computer from the Apollo project. His name was Dr.Hori a Japanese American.

  • @nandanm3826
    @nandanm3826 4 роки тому

    Good to know. Thank you for sharing.🙏

  • @12LoLproductions
    @12LoLproductions 6 місяців тому

    I’m glad there’s people like this in the world

  • @MjrNiGhTmArE
    @MjrNiGhTmArE 4 роки тому +15

    I’m happy that this was found and saved! So much critical history has been lost or trashed.

  • @theannoyedmrfloyd3998
    @theannoyedmrfloyd3998 4 роки тому +5

    Curious Marc's videos on the AGC restoration are worth watching again.

  • @eduardo_fivem
    @eduardo_fivem 8 місяців тому

    This bring tears from my eyes.

  • @muefive
    @muefive 3 роки тому

    Everyone is born with brilliance.....what a great team!

  • @Mucho-Taco
    @Mucho-Taco 4 роки тому +107

    Maybe now we can go back to the moon

    • @ggcoralez
      @ggcoralez 4 роки тому +2

      For the 11th time? Why?

    • @brianharrigan8821
      @brianharrigan8821 4 роки тому +3

      HAHAHA !!! The "DREAM !!!

    • @johannesbekker1970
      @johannesbekker1970 4 роки тому +10

      Gotta find another Kubrick first lol

    • @ussling
      @ussling 4 роки тому

      "Apollo 18" explains why we never went back to the Moon.

    • @throwaway80345
      @throwaway80345 4 роки тому

      @Luna EB | Wait some years, they will land with the SLS in 2024.

  • @slordmo2263
    @slordmo2263 4 роки тому +66

    Watched all of the CuriousMarc restoration videos....kinda happy and sad, when it was over, though.... (it's that young guy who really knows how it works... Mike Stuart.... ) I guess he actually 'built' an AGC equivalent with programmable gate arrays... that literally 'copied' all the electronic logic gates, and memory. I see there are always 'doubters' present.... most of them are either too young, or too ignorant of the 1960's to understand the mindset.... it was a different time.... and we wanted to beat the 'ruskies'.... and we did.....Thanks for the video...

    • @TheNefastor
      @TheNefastor 4 роки тому +3

      If the guys back then used as many dots as you are, they'd never have been able to code guidance software that can run on just 2KB of RAM.

    • @slordmo2263
      @slordmo2263 4 роки тому +2

      @@TheNefastor My 'dots' are a strategic pause in thought.... hahaha...oops...

    • @randomstuff2312
      @randomstuff2312 4 роки тому

      @@TheNefastor you answered my question! 2kb of RAM?! Wow!

    • @randomunavailable
      @randomunavailable 4 роки тому

      @@TheNefastor Well, the software was written within the 40k or so of fixed core rope memory (ROM in today's terms).

    • @stevenichols4639
      @stevenichols4639 4 роки тому

      Mike's knowledge was amazing. he knew everything

  • @FN_FAL_4_ever
    @FN_FAL_4_ever Рік тому +1

    I don’t know how this ended up on my feed, but I’m sure glad I clicked and watched.

  • @valuedhumanoid6574
    @valuedhumanoid6574 4 роки тому

    There is another UA-cam channel called Smarter Every Day that went and did a whole episode on Saturn V guidance computer at the Huntsville Space Center and he interviewed the engineer who worked on it. It's fascinating to watch. The memory was all set by hand. Each transistor, every single wire, components, everything. It will truly blow your mind

  • @goosefraba2385
    @goosefraba2385 4 роки тому +10

    0:28 can't be unseen...

  • @magnacartasamadams8189
    @magnacartasamadams8189 4 роки тому +18

    The funny thing is a car made in the early 90s has more computer processing power

    • @pvtpeppers6176
      @pvtpeppers6176 4 роки тому +6

      @Magna Carta Sam Adam's- yeah and a 1980s cash register had more computing power.

    • @magnacartasamadams8189
      @magnacartasamadams8189 4 роки тому +6

      @@pvtpeppers6176 The funny thing is too if you can work on a car and repair one that's fairly modern you're the equivalent of a rocket scientist from the 1960s and 70s

    • @Republic3D
      @Republic3D 4 роки тому +6

      @@magnacartasamadams8189 To be fair, these days you can just plug in a laptop and run diagnosis on the system. That hardly qualifies you as a rocket scientist. The scientists in the 60s and 70s built the rocket, the spaceships, the computers and the simulators from scratch. And by doing that forwarded our computer tech by at least a decade.

  • @JG40061
    @JG40061 4 роки тому

    Awesome!! Thank you for sharing!!

  • @marcwolf60
    @marcwolf60 Рік тому

    Brilliant job guys.. Living history

  • @vincentvaga4542
    @vincentvaga4542 4 роки тому +20

    Absolutely amazing! Great that people like this are alive! What a thing to end up on the scrap heap! And to the 78 dislikes to this video... Wow.. what a sad existence you must live. 👍🏻

    • @maxsmith695
      @maxsmith695 Рік тому +1

      You support free speech ? Then you respect different opinions.

    • @montanaeaglescout
      @montanaeaglescout Рік тому

      It’s amazing that people blindly believe the government.

  • @AH-we7rj
    @AH-we7rj 4 роки тому +7

    Important elements of the past need to be preserved...
    Great to see it happening...
    I thought all of this was kept by NASA? Considering the cold war atmosphere, etc...it is truly breathtaking to see how casual they were about it...

    • @CanIHasThisName
      @CanIHasThisName 4 роки тому

      The can't keep every single bit of technology they've ever used. For the most part, it actually doesn't make much sense for them to keep it. Preserving, restoring or doing anything with it means extra money and time.

    • @40HDR
      @40HDR 4 роки тому +2

      @@CanIHasThisName YEAH, YOU DEF WOULD NOT KEEP "THE MOST IMPORTANT ADVANCEMENT IN HUMAN HISTORY" PARTS AND PIECES, T-DATA, ETC. I MEAN - IT'S JUST "THE GREATEST LEAP" BUT, THROW THAT STUFF OUT, NO ROOM..

    • @CanIHasThisName
      @CanIHasThisName 4 роки тому +1

      @@40HDR Your exaggerations are neither funny nor accurate. They didn't keep this because it simply wasn't all that important.
      Firstly, this wasn't THE computer that landed humans on the moon for the first time, and secondly, you do realize they've actually got a museum with these exact same parts, right?

    • @lukea1533
      @lukea1533 Рік тому

      Museums exist for a reason. This ain't no IPhone 2

  • @TheFleetz
    @TheFleetz 3 роки тому

    I followed this on Marc’s You Tube Chanel ......as a retired electronics engineer it is fascinating stuff. Some very clever people doing interesting stuff!

  • @randomunavailable
    @randomunavailable 4 роки тому +52

    There is no try. There is only do, or do not. They did. Period.

    • @lpg12338
      @lpg12338 4 роки тому

      @White Man You can't out source good work ethic.

    • @Menaceblue3
      @Menaceblue3 4 роки тому

      Yes master Yoda...

  • @AdrianDucao
    @AdrianDucao 4 роки тому +3

    I've followed and watched every video they released on their channel.

  • @halfdollardude7647
    @halfdollardude7647 Рік тому

    Not sure why, after two years this popped up on my feed but fascinating. In my mind, like rewiring, gassing, and kicking off a barn find ‘69 Super Bee. Very cool.

  • @juanfelipecopete9368
    @juanfelipecopete9368 4 роки тому

    I'm very impressed with the computer restoration of the lunar module. WOW

  • @PixelSchnitzel
    @PixelSchnitzel 4 роки тому +10

    The restoration team is composed entirely of brilliant, motivated and amazingly talented individuals -- an uncommon blend of genius focused on a common problem. Still, Mike Stewart is a prodigy among them. To possess such a depth and breadth of knowledge on this important piece of history 50 years on despite his young age -- and then to be in a position to *apply* that knowledge . . . well, it was quite an experience to witness, even if only through UA-cam.

  • @markfrederick6202
    @markfrederick6202 4 роки тому +7

    thank you Alan Turing!

  • @kimchristensen6962
    @kimchristensen6962 5 місяців тому

    Now this is cool, working on this would be the top of electronic restoration projects.

  • @FreeFallingAir
    @FreeFallingAir 4 роки тому

    Fascinating, its quite amazing how far we have come. Imagine another 50 years or so, where we will be..

  • @bernardcohen3245
    @bernardcohen3245 4 роки тому +11

    To those who say we just don’t have the technology anymore to go back. Well apparently we do now

    • @johnbode5528
      @johnbode5528 4 роки тому

      We always did - what we haven't had is the desire. There's been no perceived need to send people back to the Moon.

    • @fernandojvalencia8151
      @fernandojvalencia8151 4 роки тому +2

      For you cannot land on the moon. It's a luminary. All lies.

    • @julian.castro18
      @julian.castro18 4 роки тому

      @@fernandojvalencia8151 imbecil

    • @alloneword7427
      @alloneword7427 4 роки тому

      @@fernandojvalencia8151 you're a dumb idiot, IF you actually mean what you say. IF you don't and you're trolling, you're a dumb idiot. Either way, you're a dumb idiot. Only way out of this is to go full adult. So, when are you going full adult?

    • @jagheterbanan
      @jagheterbanan 4 роки тому

      Bernard Cohen So where can I find a fully functional Saturn V to put the computer in?