I went to the website that Larry J suggested and found the following:
"If, for example, the crew wanted to execute the rendezvous targeting program, an astronaut would first press the VERB key followed by the digits 3 and 7, and then the ENTER key. That sequence informed the computer of a request for a program change. The astronaut would then press 3, 1, and ENTER to tell the computer to execute program P31. Within the program the crew could request maneuver angles (verb 50, noun 18), monitor the changes while a maneuver was in progress (verb 06, noun 18), or request the velocity change required for the next maneuver (verb 06, noun 84), among other functions."
I entered the above commands into the virtual Apollo Guidance Computer (AGC) on my Linux box and the AGC actually did something. It probably shot off a bunch of instructions to nonexistent reaction control thrusters and then acquired data from nonexistent sensors. Not horribly useful but still interesting.
Gary
Space/Science » in reply to Computers in Spaceflight: The NASA Experience
re: Computers in Spaceflight: The NASA Experience
