内容简介
As Apollo 11 's Lunar Module descended toward the moon under auto matic control, a pro gram alarm in the guidance computer's soft ware nearly cau se d a mi ssion 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 mac hine. In Digital Apollo, engineer-historian David Mindell takes this famous moment as a starting point for an e x ploration 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 spacef light , test pilots and astronauts sought to be more than "spam in a can" despite the automatic controls, digital computers, and software dev eloped by engineers. Digital Apollo ex amines the design and execution of each of the six Apollo moon landings, drawing on tran scripts 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 ul tim ate 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 desktop s or the future of exploration.David A. Mindell is Dibner Professor of the History of Engineering and Manufacturing, Professor of Engineering Systems, and Director of the Program in Science, Technology, and Society at MIT. He is the author of Between Human and Machine: Feedback, Control, and Computing before Cyber net ics and War, Technology, and Experience aboard the USS Monitor.
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