Boston Section award:

Boston Section awards the IEEE Milestone in Electrical Engineering and Computing to the Apollo Guidance Computer

IEEE Boston Section will proudly present the IEEE Milestone in Electrical Engineering and Computing to The Charles Stark Draper Laboratory in recognition of the Apollo Guidance Computer (AGC). This special dedication and program will take place Tuesday 13 December 2011 at One Hampshire Street near Kendall Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Free Parking will be available to all pre-registered attendees. Pre-register with l.scott@ieee.org. and include your name, affiliation and email. Details regarding free parking will be sent by email to all pre-registered attendees before the event.

The President of the IEEE, Moshe Kam, will award the IEEE Milestone plaque commemorating the Apollo Guidance Computer as a great electrical engineering and computing achievement. IEEE members, non-members, guests, families and friends are encouraged to attend this memorable event. Attendance is free but pre-registration is required by contacting IEEE Boston Section by emailing Linda Scott at l.scott@ieee.org.

The double-sided plaque is engraved with this citation:

Apollo Guidance Computer, 1962-1972

The Apollo Guidance Computer provided spacecraft guidance, navigation, and control during all of NASA’s Apollo Moon missions. It was developed under the leadership of Dr. Charles Stark Draper at the MIT Instrumentation Lab - now Draper Laboratory. This pioneering digital flight computer was the first real-time embedded computing system to collect data automatically and provide mission-critical calculations for the Apollo Command Module and Lunar Module.

The Apollo computer was a true pioneer: a mission-critical real-time, embedded digital computer system built using commercial integrated circuits. AGC and the associated guidance, navigation and control system components made possible the lunar rendezvous mode trajectory used by the Apollo program to put the first human beings on the moon and return them safely to earth. According to David A. Mindell, author of Digital Apollo: Human and Machine in Spaceflight, the AGC performed flawlessly on 15 manned flights, including nine flights to the moon and six successful lunar landings. It was used for three manned Skylab missions and navigated the final Apollo spacecraft to a docking with a Russian Soyuz spacecraft in 1975. Astronauts repeatedly worked the AGC, achieving flawless moves and life-critical lunar landings.


MIT engineer checks Apollo onboard guidance computer. Courtesy of MIT Museum	Doc Draper at the Apollo controls on roof at MIT. Photo by Ted Polumbaum

The nomination recognized the fact that AGC was a unique achievement because it was one of the first computers to use integrated circuits. During 1963, the MIT Instrumentation Lab consumed 60 percent of the integrated circuit production in the United States. By 1964, more than 100,000 IC's had been used in the Apollo program. Approximately 2000 man-years of engineering were consumed in the development of the Apollo computer hardware.

Software was also a unique achievement. AGC was developed using a mix of assembly language and an interpreted mathematical language. Processes for software validation and verification were developed, making extensive use of hardware and software simulators. By 1968, over 1400 man-years of software engineering effort had been expended, with a peak manpower level of 350 engineers.

SUMMARY

When – Tuesday, 13 December 2011, from 4:00 pm to 7 pm.

Where – The Charles Stark Draper Laboratory Hill Building, One Hampshire St., Cambridge, O2139.

Admission - Attendance is free but pre-registration is required by emailing Linda Scott at l.scott@ieee.org

PROGRAM

4:00 pm	Registration
4:10 pm	Welcome by Section Chair Dr. Karen Panetta
4:20 pm	Welcome by Draper Laboratory official
4:35 pm	Milestone program by IEEE President Moshe Kam
4:50 pm	Keynote speaker - John Tylko, Vice president of Aurora Flight Sciences and lecturer at MIT's Department of of Aeronautics and Astronautics
5:15 pm	Presentation of the AGC Milestone Plaque
5:30 pm	Reception
7:00 pm	Closure

PARKING

Parking is free. Instructions for parking will be given later either on the Boston Section website, or by email to those who have pre-registered.

PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION

use MBTA Red Line to Kendall / MIT Cambridge Center. Draper’s Hill Building is at the corner of Broadway and Hampshire St.