 Apollo Guidance Computer and DSKY | |
| Invented by | Charles Stark Draper Laboratory |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Raytheon |
| Introduced | August 1966 |
| Discontinued | July 1975 |
| Type |
|
| Processor | Discrete silicon integrated circuit (IC) chips (RTL based) |
| Frequency | 2.048 MHz |
| Memory |
|
| Ports | DSKY, IMU, Hand Controller, Rendezvous Radar (LM), Landing Radar (LM), Telemetry Receiver, Engine Command, Reaction Control System |
| Power consumption | 55 W[2]: 120 |
| Language | AGC Assembly Language |
| Weight | 70 lb (32 kg) |
| Dimensions | 24 in × 12.5 in × 6.5 in (61 cm × 32 cm × 17 cm) |
The Apollo Guidance Computer (AGC) was a digital computer produced for the Apollo program that was installed on board each Apollo command module (CM) and Apollo Lunar Module (LM). The AGC provided computation and electronic interfaces for guidance, navigation, and control of the spacecraft.[3] The AGC was the first computer based on silicon integrated circuits.[citation needed] The computer's performance was comparable to the first generation of home computers from the late 1970s, such as the Apple II, TRS-80, and Commodore PET.[4]
The AGC has a 16-bit word length, with 15 data bits and one parity bit. Most of the software on the AGC is stored in a special read-only memory known as core rope memory, fashioned by weaving wires through and around magnetic cores, though a small amount of read/write core memory is available.
Astronauts communicated with the AGC using a numeric display and keyboard called the DSKY (for "display and keyboard", pronounced "DIS-kee"). The AGC and its DSKY user interface were developed in the early 1960s for the Apollo program by the MIT Instrumentation Laboratory and first flew in 1966.[5]
- ^ Programmer's Manual, Block 2 AGC Assembly Language, retrieved 2018-08-27
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Hall-1996was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Interbartolo, Michael (January 2009). "Apollo Guidance, Navigation and Control Hardware Overview" (PDF).
- ^ "How did the Apollo flight computers get men to the moon and back ?". 11 March 2017.
- ^ James E. Tomayko (1988). "The Apollo guidance computer: Hardware". Computers in Spaceflight: The NASA Experience. NASA. Archived from the original on December 29, 2023.