Tag: Space

The Apollo Guidance Computer

Apollo Guidance Computer

The Apollo Guidance Computer (AGC) was an amazing piece of technology for its time. At 12:16 PM EDT, on July 16th, 1969, the Apollo 11 spacecraft began its translunar injection burn to leave its 115 mile-high Earth-orbit thanks to this navigation computer.

The AGC operated at 1.024 MHz, or one-million cycles per second, to help multitask 8 jobs, all with 2 kilobytes of memory.

You can try out the AGC yourself with the simulator found at here.

Your modern smartphone likely has a CPU designed to run at 2 GHz, or a billion cycles per second, and will often have 2 gigabytes of memory.

That said, comparing it to the modern smartphone isn’t really fair considering the AGC was a specialized computer designed to perform in a high-stress environment.

The Apollo Guidance Computer helped to take a spacecraft over 225 thousand miles to the Moon. Thanks to the efforts of the early space pioneers, your smartphone now uses an orbiting network of 24 GPS satellites.

Where will your technology take you today?

Apollo 11 Launches Into Space!

Apollo 11 Launches

45 years ago today, the Apollo 11 mission began with the launch of the Saturn V rocket at 9:32 AM EDT on July 16th, 1969.

The 4 day journey to the Moon was the result of decades of engineering, problem solving, and team work from tens of thousands of NASA employees.

The work of those scientists, engineers, astronauts and other employees still inspires our passion and curiosity around technology to this day.

Where will your curiosity take you?

First Flight Lunar Lander Park

Did you know that Warren, Ohio is home to a half-scale replica of the Apollo 11 Lunar Module? One thing I love about a ride through the countryside are the small attractions you pass along the side of the road.


This Warren, Ohio park marks the area where six-year-old Neil Armstrong took his first airplane flight. In July 20, 1969, the Apollo 11 Lunar Module landed on the moon with Astronaut Neil Armstrong becoming the first man to walk on the moon.

For more information, visit First Flight Warren.