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Programming the Apollo Guidance Computer

  • The National Museum of Computing Block H, Bletchley Park Bletchley, England, MK3 6GX United Kingdom (map)

While Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the Moon, Michael Collins waited for them in lunar orbit. He was known as the “world’s loneliest man”. His capsule had a state-of-the-art computer, but NASA didn’t provide him with any games. 55 years later, we are fixing this oversight.


In this talk we travel back to the 1960s to explore what it takes to program the Apollo Guidance Computer.  Join us in a world before "best practices" and before "test-driven development".  A world where software was literally woven by hand.


Earlier Event: May 30
Dons, Wrens and Bombes
Later Event: June 24
Digital Future - KS3-KS4