PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - Can automated systems deal with unique events?
Old 27th October 2015 | 17:59
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MG23
 
Joined: Jun 2009
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From: Canada
Originally Posted by CONSO
Or as was the case for moon landing- computer about to overload and abort sequence ?
The Apollo Guidance Computer is actually a good example of coding to handle unexpected events. It had CPU power to spare in normal operation, but was programmed to keep flying and drop less essential tasks like displaying data to the crew if it was overloaded. Had the programmers not built that capability into the software, Neil Armstrong wouldn't have been the first man on the Moon.

Of course, it had no idea that it was aiming to land them on top of a big rock (or was it the edge of a crater? I forget). So, without Armstrong, it would probably just be a pile of debris on the Moon.
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