Apollo in Real Time Forum

Message Boards => Apollo 13 Moments of Interest => Topic started by: countrygirljo on April 14, 2020, 04:45:22 am

Title: 061:21:55 MIT won't be able to run the data on the LEM engine burn in time
Post by: countrygirljo on April 14, 2020, 04:45:22 am

https://apolloinrealtime.org/13/?t=061:21:52&ch=14

A time of tension (amongst many). MIT mainframe seems to be running the numbers on the LEM engine burn for the free return, but it doesn't look like they are going to have them done in time. So it's all down to the manual calculations. Brings to life the reality of computing speeds in 1970. You can hear the anxiety in the voices, Guidance and Flight Dynamics guys particularly, as it builds toward the burn. A few minutes later they and the crew do the burn, almost perfectly.