“1201 Alarm. 1202 Alarm.” Armstrong and Aldrin had doubts about the LEM’s reliability. In case they had to abort during the landing phase, they kept the rendezvous radar active, so they could save time and fuel as they returned to the CSM in lunar orbit. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but it overloaded the computer. Fortunately Margaret Hamilton’s software (along with everyone else who worked on it) was designed to know when it was overloaded, and to give priorities to the different functions it was asked to do.
I think that stack of paper includes the software for the LEM and the Command Module computer, and the Instrument Unit (IU) atop the S-IVB stage in the Saturn boosters, and the documentation. The Command Module had its own navigation computer and optics, and if needed could fly to the moon and back on its own. (This was a Cold War thing; it seemed possible that the Soviets might interfere with communications between Apollo and the ground.)
“1201 Alarm. 1202 Alarm.” Armstrong and Aldrin had doubts about the LEM’s reliability. In case they had to abort during the landing phase, they kept the rendezvous radar active, so they could save time and fuel as they returned to the CSM in lunar orbit. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but it overloaded the computer. Fortunately Margaret Hamilton’s software (along with everyone else who worked on it) was designed to know when it was overloaded, and to give priorities to the different functions it was asked to do.
I think that stack of paper includes the software for the LEM and the Command Module computer, and the Instrument Unit (IU) atop the S-IVB stage in the Saturn boosters, and the documentation. The Command Module had its own navigation computer and optics, and if needed could fly to the moon and back on its own. (This was a Cold War thing; it seemed possible that the Soviets might interfere with communications between Apollo and the ground.)