@mhoye
As Margaret explained it to me, NASA wanted the lunar lander's actual landing to be 100% automated with no manual override. She disagreed, and insisted on implementing an override. NASA didn't like the idea but Margaret just went ahead and wrote it.
Of course, on Apollo 11's final approach, the lander was headed for a field of giant boulders. Neil Armstrong used Margaret's code to override the computer and manually divert to the actual, safer, landing point.
In reply to
MrAlanCooper
@mralancooper@hachyderm.io
Back in the day I built a lot of software, then I designed a lot of software, then I designed a lot of software design tools. Now I'm retired on a ranch in Petaluma California and I build stuff in my workshop, mostly out of atoms instead of bits.
hachyderm.io
MrAlanCooper
@mralancooper@hachyderm.io
Back in the day I built a lot of software, then I designed a lot of software, then I designed a lot of software design tools. Now I'm retired on a ranch in Petaluma California and I build stuff in my workshop, mostly out of atoms instead of bits.
hachyderm.io
@mralancooper@hachyderm.io
·
Apr 06, 2026
394
10
249
Conversation (10)
Showing 0 of 10 cached locally.
Syncing comments from the remote thread. 10 more replies are still loading.
Loading comments...