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[–] 19 points 2 years ago (3 children)

You forgot to add a raspberry pi for the on-board computer. Even though, that would probably be way more powerful than the on-board computer they used, haha

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  • [–] 8 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (2 children)

    Where you need to be pointed, how fast you're going relative to something else, how long your burn needs to be, and when it needs to be. You don't need much "computer" to figure that out.

    You can totally navigate space with just a pencil, paper, a slide rule, and a sextant. Like some kinda steakpunk steampunk space pirate.

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  • [–] 11 points 2 years ago

    There was a sextant on the early orbital and the lunar missions.

    Buzz aldrin wrote a paper on navigating in space using a sextant and paper. If I remember right, the analog tools were brought along in case the computers failed, as the return capsules needed a specific reentry angle and velocity, or they’d either burn up in the atmosphere or bounce off into space.

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  • [–] 8 points 2 years ago

    Watched an interesting video recently about the computer used in the Apollo lunar missions. Of course even basic processors now are more powerful, but it's still impressive how rock-solid stable the Apollo computers were.

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