this post was submitted on 11 Jul 2023
1326 points (90.3% liked)

Next Fucking Level

3137 readers
1 users here now

Next Fucking Level Videos and Gifs.

Rules

  1. Be respectful and inclusive.
  2. No harassment, hate speech, or trolling.
  3. Engage in constructive discussions.
  4. Share relevant content.
  5. Follow guidelines and moderators' instructions.
  6. Use appropriate language and tone.
  7. Report violations.
  8. Foster a continuous learning environment.

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
LW_NewModWanted
ME5SENGER_24
1326
She wrote all this code by hand to take humanity to the Moon (lemmy.world)
submitted 1 year ago by MakunaHatata to c/nextfuckinglevel
149 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

Margaret Hamilton, NASA's lead developer for Apollo program, stands next to all the code she wrote by hand that took humanity to the moon in 1969

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

I used to collect mechanical calculators.

You couldn't calculate a re-entry vector with one but you could add a long list of numbers quickly and efficiently.

They were called comptometers.

The ads for them are fascinating:

https://www.jaapsch.net/mechcalc/comptometer_ads.htm

This one in particular... https://www.jaapsch.net/mechcalc/images/comptometer/ads/big/1910-07-02%20The%20Argus%20%28Melbourne%29.jpg

Pay seven pounds for some training and a guaranteed job as a skilled comptometer operator.