Paint By Numbers

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2 total messages Started by Harold Buchman Fri, 15 Dec 1989 09:45

#414

Author: Harold Buchman
Date: Fri, 15 Dec 1989 09:45

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I don't know if this is fer real, but I heard tell that on the
early Mariner missions to the local planets that the digital
images would be run out on a line printer, with numbers 
corresponding to the luminance of each pixel.
Then they would tape the printouts on the walls in the corridors
along with a set of gray scale chalks. Anyone with a few minutes to
waste would hang out and fill in some pixels.
Amazing, huh?

NASA computers (was Re: Paint By Numbers)

#415

Author: ri... Richard Ottolini
Date: Fri, 15 Dec 1989 17:01

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There are probably some good stories about how so much US space exploration
was managed with such primitive computers.  I believe the recent Voyager
data was generated with @30 KByte computers and the early space shuttle
missions used magnetic ring core memory computers.
Part of the explanation is that it takes over a decade from design to
deployment of a space experiment.  Voyager was designed in the early 1970s,
launched in 1977, and took a dozen years to reach Neptune.
Another explanation is that older technology is more reliable in harsh
environments than newer stuff.

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