27 Aug
1998
27 Aug
'98
11:29 a.m.
I see another rocket has blown up.
Looks like it's time to break out those
desk top analog computers that got us
into space the first time.
=========================================
Doug Coward dcoward(a)pressstart.com
Curator
Museum of Personal Computing Machinery
Sunnyvale,CA
http://www.best.com/~dcoward/museum
"This instrument can teach, it can illuminate;
Yes,and it can even inspire. But it can do so
only to the extent that humans are determined
to use it to those ends. Otherwise it is
merely lights and wires in a box."
- Micro68 computer User's Manual,EPA Inc. 1976
=========================================
27 Aug
27 Aug
12:30 p.m.
On Thu, 27 Aug 1998, Doug Coward wrote:
I see another rocket has blown up.
Looks like it's time to break out those
desk top analog computers that got us
into space the first time.
You mean today? Haven't watched the news. I think its a conspiracy.
(Really!)
Sam Alternate e-mail: dastar(a)siconic.com
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ever onward.
September 26 & 27...Vintage Computer Festival 2.0
See http://www.siconic.com/vcf for details!
[Last web site update: 08/25/98]
1 Sep
1 Sep
3:41 p.m.
At 04:29 PM 8/27/98 -0700, you wrote:
I see another rocket has blown up.
Looks like it's time to break out those
desk top analog computers that got us
into space the first time.
Yeap, time to go back to using HP 9825s! Seems like the fault in this
one was that they had the software for the OLD guidance system loaded!
Joe
4:45 p.m.
-----Original Message-----
From: CLASSICCMP-owner(a)u.washington.edu
[mailto:CLASSICCMP-owner@u.washington.edu] On Behalf Of Joe
Sent: Tuesday, September 01, 1998 4:41 PM
To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
Subject: Re: Deja vu
At 04:29 PM 8/27/98 -0700, you wrote:
D'oh! You'd think that after The Famous Ariane 5 Fireball that every launch
since would have that checked as part of the countdown.
That one was way too spectacular to forget.
I see another rocket has blown up.
Looks like it's time to break out those
desk top analog computers that got us
into space the first time.
Yeap, time to go back to using HP 9825s! Seems like the fault in this
one was that they had the software for the OLD guidance system loaded! 
2 Sep
2 Sep
1:33 p.m.
Aaron Michael Walkhouse wrote:
D'oh! You'd think that after The Famous
Ariane 5 Fireball that every launch
since would have that checked as part of the countdown.
That one was way too spectacular to forget.
I forget if I've plugged the book here before (I know I've plugged
it every bloody where else and given away a dozen licensed copies
as well), but for a _good_ description of a trivial software glitch
screwing up a launch, I recommend the Prometheus Award winning
novel _Kings of the High Frontier_ by Victor Koman. It is now out
in a limited edition hardcover (I bought one at Worldcon), but the
HTML version is still available from <http://www.pulpless.com/>.
Yes, the book is unashamedly libertarian (as am I). But imagine
the sight if the Solid Rocket Boosters either side of a NASA
shuttle happened to light off a fraction of a second apart. (SRBs
can't be throttled the way liguid-fueled engines can).
--
Ward Griffiths <mailto:gram@cnct.com> <http://www.cnct.com/home/gram/>
When I was crossing the border into Canada, they asked me if I had any
firearms with me. I said "Well, what do you need?" -- Steven Wright
9608
days inactive
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4 comments
5 participants
participants (5)
-
aaronwa＠telusplanet.net -
dastar＠ncal.verio.com -
dcoward＠pressstart.com -
gram＠cnct.com -
rigdonj＠intellistar.net