Digital Apollo: Human and Machine in Spaceflight
by David A. Mindell
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Book Summary Information
Author: David A. MindellEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2008-05-31
ISBN: 0262134977
Number of pages: 456
Publisher: MIT Press
Product features:
- ISBN13: 9780262134972
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
- Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices
Book Reviews of Digital Apollo: Human and Machine in Spaceflight
Book Review: Excellent as a thesis, plainly boring as a book
Summary: 2 Stars
As I start to write this review I feel troubled for 2 reasons. First, I imagine that sitting down for many months and writing a book on a precise subject must be a hell of an effort. Second, it absolutely shows that the author took extreme care in documenting its sources, as just about every page in this book has an average of 3 to 4 calls referring to the source material backing up a particular statement. In fact, the "Notes" section spans over 62 pages, making up to 23% when compared against the 271 pages of the main narrative. For this alone, building his book with such attention to fine detail, Mr. Mindell deserves my uttermost respect. And I'm glad most reviewers consider it a 5-star book because anything good I had to say about Digital Apollo ends right here.
Has anyone of you out there experienced reading any historic event from a book made for high school students and finding it uninteresting, while the same event read from an "adult" book seems to be much more interesting, even appealing? If you know what I'm talking about, then you'll understand why to me, Digital Apollo was an effort to read. While the events are accurately depicted, the narrative is soul-less. Instead of draw you in, it pushes you away (took me 7 months to finish!). It's clear this is a very personal opinion and you may or may not agree but I don't need to apologize for it.
However, are there any other "objective" arguments to explain why this book is a turn down? The answer may well lie in its pretentious cover and title: "Digital Apollo" stamped over a LEM panel full of switches, knobs and readouts, suggests many things that the book is not. This inevitably leads to deception.
It is not a technical book (and by technical, I don't mean a book abounding in mathematical equations), it is a book on HISTORY. There's a 4-pages explanation on the memory hardware used by the ACG (Apollo Guidance Computer) and besides a few other graphs, that's about as technical as you will get, not to mention that a good portion of the memory explanation refers to who and in which circumstances built it.
It is not a book about Apollo. Of the 11 chapters, take away the last one which is a speculation onto the future, you'll need to swallow 4 full chapters of ancient computer/aviation history in order to start getting a little of ACG. Now, the X-15 era, airmen in the dawn of the aviation age and such might be interesting subjects for many; but spanning these over 40% of the book certainly isn't what an Apollo buff is expecting when buying a book called "Digital Apollo". The subtitle, "Human and Machine in Spaceflight", would have been more adequate as the main title.
It is not a focused book. Although automatic guidance and computers are in the core, it's a weak core and the book expands over many peripheral subjects that you will get a glimpse at, but not quite a ration.
All in all, I think Digital Apollo will become good reference and companion for writers/journalists seeking to publish their own material about Apollo (and probably many other non-Apollo-related subjects). I wouldn't recommend it to final readers though.
Summary of Digital Apollo: Human and Machine in Spaceflight
As Apollo 11's Lunar Module descended toward the moon under automatic control, a program alarm in the guidance computer's software nearly caused a mission abort. Neil Armstrong responded by switching off the automatic mode and taking direct control. He stopped monitoring the computer and began flying the spacecraft, relying on skill to land it and earning praise for a triumph of human over machine.In Digital Apollo, engineer-historian David Mindell takes this famous moment as a starting point for an exploration of the relationship between humans and computers in the Apollo program. In each of the six Apollo landings, the astronaut in command seized control from the computer and landed with his hand on the stick. Mindell recounts the story of astronauts' desire to control their spacecraft in parallel with the history of the Apollo Guidance Computer. From the early days of aviation through the birth of spaceflight, test pilots and astronauts sought to be more than "spam in a can" despite the automatic controls, digital computers, and software developed by engineers. Digital Apollo examines the design and execution of each of the six Apollo moon landings, drawing on transcripts and data telemetry from the flights, astronaut interviews, and NASA's extensive archives.
Mindell's exploration of how human pilots and automated systems worked together to achieve the ultimate in flight-a lunar landing-traces and reframes the debate over the future of humans and automation in space. The results have implications for any venture in which human roles seem threatened by automated systems, whether it is the work at our desktops or the future of exploration.
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