PolybiusChampion t1_isg6nk6 wrote on October 15, 2022 at 7:03 PM

Reply to comment by nyuckajay in Simple/Short/Silly History Questions Saturday! by AutoModerator

On a bit of a tangent, there is a great BBC podcast 13 Minutes to the Moon that uses the final 13 minutes of the moon landing to go over all the technology etc that had to be developed to make that 13 minutes happen. The episode on the flight computer was fascinating. The code was hard wired literally on wires that were then wound/knitted to form the memory core.

I’m sure I’ve massively messed up the simple explanation, but based on the Q I think you’d enjoy the podcast, at least that episode.

nyuckajay t1_isg93bx wrote on October 15, 2022 at 7:20 PM

Hey thanks! I’ll check it out!

PaulsRedditUsername t1_isgc2xn wrote on October 15, 2022 at 7:42 PM

I've listened to it and second that recommendation. The "13 minutes" is the amount of time it took for the Eagle to leave the orbiter and fall to the moon's surface. The episodes go through the history of the mission and the construction of the spaceship.

Finally, they play the entire 13-minute sequence. By that time, you understand the meaning of every communication between Eagle and Houston, all of the warning codes and calls and responses. It's good stuff.