[Scott Manley] released a video about the piracy that stored Apollo 14. Unlike some articles about the incident, [Scott] enters the main technical points in an entertaining manner. If you don’t remember, Apollo 14 had a challenge where the abandonment control button signaled when it shouldn’t.
The unusual story is that a NASA engineer has discovered a way to reprogram the Apollo steering computer. However, [Scott] says that reminiscent of the computer cable is not reprogrammable and that, anyway, there is no remote way to send commands to the computer.
The initial solution called on the astronauts to use the DSKY to make a little transparent that would prevent an abandonment from occurring. However, there is a possibility that some other code redefines this bit in general operations. If the bit was set and the transfer did not work correctly, you may get a false abandonment. Engineers sent them some other procedure to trick the PC into believing that it was already acting as an abandonment that solved this problem.
However, operations took a lot of effort to make everything work. [Scott] displays the names and verbs used and explains them in detail. It is rare to find such a technical remedy from this story and NASA engineers have done a trick in the true sense of the word.
The DSKY is not on the pages of Hackaday. We’ve even talked about the reminiscent of the rope. While Apollo Thirteen received the big-budget film, the Apollo 14 trick is also a wonderful story. And without that, we would never have had a chance to play golf on the moon.
Hou the angels the angels the angels! Now I need to build a replica!
Looks like he put you in.
To be honest, my memory can be a little difficult!
Or you can simply say that you pulled a chain of reminiscences to make a replica.
Great, I just spent an hour watching Scott Manley’s videos. Thank you HAD! No thanks. It was fun 🙂
I came here for puns.
And I panic when my elderly aunt (who lives a few blocks away) calls me to ask why “his internet doesn’t work” …
Better than when you send emails to say the Internet is working. I get a lot from my parents.
Today, I spent 55 minutes talking to someone on the phone through a Wi-Fi challenge because the computer didn’t have an airplane mode switch. At least that’s not the case until I showed up on the user and returned it.
The reminiscent of the string is reprogrammable. It takes a lot of work.
There was still some other “Hack” on this flight. When Alan Shepard descended on his flight runway to land on the moon, the landing radar involved “charabia.” NASA’s flight parameters imply that if there is no landing radar at a safe altitude, the landing will have to be aborted and Shepard deserves to fire the concentrated rockets. He was very close to that altitude to walk/stop when a brilliant young engineer saw something about the “charabia” and asked Alan to turn off his radar and turn it back on. (restart) He did and without delay gained smart radar data numbers. What happened was that while the ship was taking its contact attitude, the radar was turned on and, as reported in the area at the time, it did not gain any rebound signal and read “infinite”. Alan was continually asked if he would continue and surrender, or he would simply fly it if the radar didn’t pass and he said … “You’ll never know.” An undeniable trick perhaps, but brilliant and timely. He used that mission.
Have you tried turning it off and back on?
He’s going to blow it up. If you ever read Tom Wolfe’s The Right Stuff, you don’t even want to ask.