🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <384@grc.UUCP> pat@grc.UUCP (Pat Reynolds) writes:
>In article <10970@venera.UUCP> rave...@isi.edu (Paul Raveling) writes:
>>In article <60...@wpi.wpi.edu>, jwhi...@wpi.wpi.edu (John C Whitson
>>KB2GNC) writes:
>>
>>	[About spurious missile warnings due to a chip failure]
>>
>>	Back in the late '60's someone I knew at UCLA went to work
>>	for System Development Corporation in Santa Monica, and came back
>>	one day with a story about a software bug.
>>...
>	Speaking of SAGE, I was an Air Force tech on the last one
>to be shutdown, in December 1984 at Luke AFB(Phoenix). Over 100K
>vacuum tubes per computer, drum and core memory, and hard-wired
>plugboards for the first 256 locations in memory. Definitely an
>experience not soon forgotten.
>	Despite all the legends, the SAGE (Semi-Automatic Ground
>Environment) was simply used to track and identify incoming
>aircraft and dispatch fighters to catch the bad guys, if any
>happened to be coming. It worked fine, but the enormous power,
>air conditioning, and maintenance costs(tubes are expensive) put
>it to death at age 25(?).

  You can see it (or part of it) in Boston Computer Museum, Boston, MA.
I did spend one whole day in there two years ago...

>				Pat

	/Matti Aarnio <m...@mea.utu.fi>