Computers to the Moon

Speaker: Mark Schulman, past president, Central Florida Computer Society

How did the United States manage to get to the moon in the 1960s at a time when PCs didn’t exist and computers were the size of a small warehouse? Computers to the Moon tells the story of the monumental effort to create a computer capable of landing a spacecraft on the moon. Today we tend to believe that computers back then were primitive playthings, but it turns out that ingenious, driven engineers and software developers, even half a century ago, could accomplish amazing things. In Computers to the Moon, you’ll learn what they created and how it worked.

Mark Schulman has spent his career as a computer instructor, software designer, and small business owner. He has taught a wide range of programming courses for major corporations and worked on large software development projects. He is currently the IT manager for a group of family practice physicians. His major geek interest these days is the computer technology that brought about the moon landings in the 1960s. He lives near Orlando, Florida.

This meeting will be via Zoom video conference.

Join us at https://tinyurl.com/opcug-meeting. The Zoom link will be live at 7:15 pm. The meeting will begin at 7:30 pm.

If the TinyURL link doesn’t work, use:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/92495560898?pwd=cDNCcVdZVVRiZ3hQNHJzVDZNVHoxZz09.

The above link includes the meeting ID and password. However, if you are prompted for the information, use:
Meeting ID: 924 9556 0898
Password: opcug

Instructions for using Zoom are provided here: https://opcug.ca/wp-content/uploads/Zoom-instructionsv3.pdf

Until further notice, Q&A sessions are no longer held after regular monthly meetings. Hence, monthly meetings now end one hour earlier at 9 pm. Everyone is welcome to join us on all other Wednesdays for weekly Q&A sessions.