Digital Apollo: Human and Machine in Spaceflight | 
| Author: David A. Mindell
Publisher: MIT Press
Category: Book
List Price: $29.95
Buy New: $18.56
You Save: $11.39 (38%)
New (31) Used (5) from $17.75
Avg. Customer Rating:  3 reviews
Sales Rank: 13869
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 456
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.9
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.9 x 1.3
ISBN: 0262134977
Dewey Decimal Number: 629.474
EAN: 9780262134972
ASIN: 0262134977
Publication Date: May 31, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand New, Perfect Condition, Please allow 4-14 business days for delivery. 100% Money Back Guarantee, Over 1,000,000 customers served.
|
| Similar Items:
|
| Customer Reviews:
"Soul of a new machine" for Apollo September 10, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Thankfully the publisher used silky cream paper to print this book. Both your hands and your brain are pampered. Clear line illustration inside with a fantastic cover graphic, this book rewards the touch of your hand by taking you on a magic carpet ride through the inner workings of developing the guidance and navigation systems for the moon shot. It is the "Soul of the New Machine" for the Apollo program.
It's a fascinating account of how the guidance computer and the human astronaut (and flight controllers) struggled to rely on each other for the landing on the moon. The love-hate emotions of the computer-astronaut interface are felt throughout the book. Although there is no shortage of technical detail, it all seems essential to the narrative. Initially, it seems as if the book is losing focus, but soon the connections become clear: the book reads like a detective novel.
If you have read two or more books on the space program, this should be your next purchase. Once you have read one Apollo book, there is a lot of repetition - not here. It provides many details the others lack.
A secondary audience for this book is anyone interested in IT project management. This book provides a case study on complex, mission-critical project management. Much to be learned. This should be required ready for engineering majors.
At under $20, this book will set off fireworks in the pleasure centers neurons.
Digital Apollo: Human and Machine in Spaceflight June 2, 2008
2 out of 7 found this review helpful
This book has a lot more technical information than I expected. It explains techincal details. The price is reasonable.
Computers in Space May 5, 2008
17 out of 17 found this review helpful
While this book dwells more on computers than astronauts, it contains details from the actual moon landings that I've never seen published elsewhere. Despite contrary opinions by the astonauts, this book has convinced me that a 100% all-human landing (without computers) was not technically possible. If you liked "Journey to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Guidance Computer" then you'll like this.
p.s. This book describes the operation of a zero-weight low-tech technology known as the LPD (landing point designator) which is comprised of colored markings on the commander's window. One of the AGC display lines tells the commander which lines to look through.
|
|
|
