Sunburst and Luminary: An Apollo Memoir

by Don Eyles, David R Scott (Foreword by)

Overview

In 1966 the author, newly graduated from college, went to work for the MIT laboratory where the Apollo guidance system was designed. His assignment was to program the complex lunar landing phase in the Lunar Module's onboard computer. As Apollo 11 approaches, the author flies lunar landings in simulators and meets the astronauts who will fly the LM for real. He explains the computer alarms that almost prevented Neil Armstrong from landing and describes a narrow escape from another dangerous problem. On Apollo 14 he devises a workaround when a faulty pushbutton threatens Alan Shepard's mission, earning a NASA award, a story in Rolling Stone, and a few lines in the history books.  This memoir is a new kind of book about Apollo. It tells a story never told before by an insider — the development of the onboard software for the Apollo spacecraft. It makes a vertical connection between technical details and historic events, but by broadening the story using his own experiences as he grows into adulthood in the 1960s the author draws a parallel between that era of successful space exploration, and the exploration, inner and outer, that was taking place in the culture.
9780692742464 The Pearl of the Outer Banks is the fourth book in the author's North Carolina coastal series, is a look at the history, the people and the continuing allure of the remote, white-sanded island that draws tens of thousands of tourists each year.

Ocracoke tells the island's story from the early days of Native Americans and European explorers to today's artists, musicians, fishermen and bicycle-riding tourists. Along the way, it shares the stories of Blackbeard the Pirate's bloody demise, German U-boat attacks off Ocracoke's coast, and the role of the iconic 1823 Ocracoke Lighthouse.

Here, too, are portraits of ferries full of visitors, a legendary herd of once-wild ponies, miles of nationally honored beaches, the charmingly unpaved Howard Street and the poignantly serene British Cemetery — along with the inside stories of what draws families back year after year, generation after generation.

Ocracoke also presents a striking new proposal from Dr. Stephen Leatherman, the world-famous Dr. Beach, to enhance Ocracoke's reputation as a world-class walking village.

Ocracoke: The Pearl of the Outer Banks is a delightful look at what makes Ocracoke special — and likely always will.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780986385933
Publisher:	Fort Point Press
Publication date:	10/01/2019
Pages:	376
Sales rank:	625,971
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Don Eyles worked on the Apollo Project from 1966 through 1972, and on the NASA space program until 1998, as a computer scientist at the MIT Instrumentation Lab and the Charles Stark Draper Laboratory in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He created flight software for the lunar landing phase of the Moon mission, and invented a sequencing system that is currently in operation on the International Space Station. At present he is a writer, photographer and sculptor based in Boston.

Table of Contents

Foreword xi

Author's Note xv

Prologue 3

Part 1 Learning 7

Growing Up 9

Hired 14

The Mission 19

The Lunar Landing 23

Susank 30

Doc Draper and Inertial Navigation 34

Sunburst 43

Coordinate Systems 49

The Building 53

Coding and Debugging 57

The Guidance Computer 63

Throttle Control 72

Fire on the Pad 75

What If We Lost Power? 78

The Hybrid 83

The Rivals 88

AX*SR*T, Burnbaby, and Twiddle 93

The Pussycat Team 100

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern 103

Dana 105

Part 2 Flying 113

AS-502 115

Eliminating Linear Guidance 118

The Doctors 120

The SCB, The LLTV 125

Apollo 7, 8, 9 130

The Landing Radar 133

Duty Cycle 137

Training Apollo 11 139

Apollo 11: Ignition to High Gate 142

Apollo 11: High Gate to Touchdown 152

What Just Happened? 156

Debriefing 162

What Just Happened? Part 2 166

Pinpoint Landing 170

The LM Simulator at the Cape 176

Landing on the Moon with Pete 184

Training Apollo 12 187

Delta Guidance 200

Apollo 12 202

France, Venice 207

P66 Auto 211

Tloss 215

Briefing in Crew Quarters 218

Training Apollo 14 223

Apollo 13 227

Books 229

Tear-Gassed 232

Castellations 234

The Summer of 1970 240

The Ersatz SCB 243

John Young's Excellent Idea 247

Apollo 14 255

My Fifteen Minutes 261

Part 3 Exploring 269

Apollo 15 271

Block Island, Dubrovnik 276

Haystack 280

Apollo 16 284

Dinner with Doc 289

Apollo 17 295

Dinner with Tom and Annie 298

Last Landings at the LMS 302

The Artifact 304

Epilogue 309

Glossary 317

Bibliography 323

Notes 327

Index 351