Hacker News Reader

Comment by zw123456 | Hacker News Reader

Fascinating as usual Ken, thank you. I am still absorbing the tech, but one thing that struck me in the very detailed photos (thanks for that) it does not appear that the components, resistors, capacitors etc. were soldered to the binding posts, it looks almost as if they were welded or fused?

I am wondering if that was for reliability due to vibrations of launch ?

oops never mind, i see your comment on one photo.

View on HN

Yes, the components were spot-welded. This was common in the Apollo electronics. I think it was more reliable than soldering.

Right, it had to survive the vibration of the mighty Saturn V. But even so, that construction, the insulating tubes and hot glue, I am not sure I would risk my life on that!

I am sure it (the construction) was extensively tested.

It's unlikely the astronauts would trust their life to this processor alone. There would be at least one backup, and probably a plan in the event of total communication failure. System design!

Could be but just looking at the block diag Ken showed, that thing looked like a really critical component that all the comm ran through, although it looks like there may have been a way to bypass it for voice only comm in an emergency.

But regardless, I still think those guys were amazingly brave, they knew the thing they were riding in was pretty cutting edge and there were big risks. (Apollo 13 of course is an example).

Reply on news.ycombinator.com