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Photos: The computer programmers behind NASA’s Apollo missions

By Nick Heath

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Photos: The computer programmers behind NASA’s Apollo missions

Discussing the mission

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Discussing the mission

Mission Control in Houston served as the brain trust for the Apollo missions.

SEE: NASA’s unsung heroes: The Apollo coders who put men on the moon (PDF download)

Image: NASA
Photos: The computer programmers behind NASA’s Apollo missions

The Apollo 11 engineering team

Image: NASA

The Apollo 11 engineering team

Engineers gathered in the Mission Evaluation Room during Apollo 11.

SEE: NASA’s unsung heroes: The Apollo coders who put men on the moon (PDF download)

Image: NASA
Photos: The computer programmers behind NASA’s Apollo missions

Man on the Moon

Image: NASA

Man on the Moon

Buzz Aldrin’s famous moonwalk was made possible by some amazing computer programmers.

SEE: NASA’s unsung heroes: The Apollo coders who put men on the moon (PDF download)

Image: NASA
Photos: The computer programmers behind NASA’s Apollo missions

The most famous footprint in history?

Image: NASA

The most famous footprint in history?

Buzz Aldrin’s footprint left quite a mark.

SEE: NASA’s unsung heroes: The Apollo coders who put men on the moon (PDF download)

Image: NASA
Photos: The computer programmers behind NASA’s Apollo missions

A successful rescue

Image: NASA

A successful rescue

Three of NASA’s four Apollo 13 flight directors applaud the successful splashdown of the command module Odyssey, while Manned Spacecraft Center deputy director Dr. Christopher C. Kraft Jr. lights up cigars in the upper left.

SEE: NASA’s unsung heroes: The Apollo coders who put men on the moon (PDF download)

Image: NASA
Photos: The computer programmers behind NASA’s Apollo missions

Apollo programmer Homer Ahr

Image: Homer Ahr

Apollo programmer Homer Ahr

Modern day photo of Homer Ahr.

SEE: NASA’s unsung heroes: The Apollo coders who put men on the moon (PDF download)

Image: Homer Ahr
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Photos: The computer programmers behind NASA’s Apollo missions

The brain of mission control

Image: Homer Ahr/NASA

The brain of mission control

The Real-Time Computer Complex (RTCC) for the Apollo Program’s Mission Control Center at Johnson Space Center. The RTCC was situated on the first floor in Building 30, below the Mission Operation Control Rooms. There were no windows to the outside world in any of these rooms.

SEE: NASA’s unsung heroes: The Apollo coders who put men on the moon (PDF download)

Image: Homer Ahr/NASA
Photos: The computer programmers behind NASA’s Apollo missions

Homer Ahr, associate programmer, maneuver control

Image: IBM

Homer Ahr, associate programmer, maneuver control

Homer Ahr’s promotion ahead of the Apollo 11 mission in July 1969 is publicized in an IBM magazine from the time.

SEE: NASA’s unsung heroes: The Apollo coders who put men on the moon (PDF download)

Image: IBM
Photos: The computer programmers behind NASA’s Apollo missions

Recent college graduate Homer Ahr

Image: IBM

Recent college graduate Homer Ahr

Homer Ahr pictured a couple of months before the launch of the Apollo 11 mission in July 1969.

SEE: NASA’s unsung heroes: The Apollo coders who put men on the moon (PDF download)

Image: IBM
Photos: The computer programmers behind NASA’s Apollo missions

Apollo 11 planned timeline

Image: Homer Ahr / NASA

Apollo 11 planned timeline

A timeline of key events in the forthcoming Apollo 11 mission, released a day before launch.

SEE: NASA’s unsung heroes: The Apollo coders who put men on the moon (PDF download)

Image: Homer Ahr / NASA
Photos: The computer programmers behind NASA’s Apollo missions

Manning the console

Image: Homer Ahr / NASA

Manning the console

This is the RTCC console area where Ahr worked on the Dynamics Computer Console during Apollo 11.

SEE: NASA’s unsung heroes: The Apollo coders who put men on the moon (PDF download)

Image: Homer Ahr / NASA
Photos: The computer programmers behind NASA’s Apollo missions

Homer Ahr, Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient

Image: Homer Ahr

Homer Ahr, Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient

The Presidential Medal of Freedom Award presented to Ahr for his work as part of the Apollo 13 Mission Operations Team.

SEE: NASA’s unsung heroes: The Apollo coders who put men on the moon (PDF download)

Image: Homer Ahr
Photos: The computer programmers behind NASA’s Apollo missions

How to get in the door at NASA

Image: Homer Ahr

How to get in the door at NASA

Ahr’s Apollo 11 mission badge that allowed him entrance to the Mission Control Center during the mission.

SEE: NASA’s unsung heroes: The Apollo coders who put men on the moon (PDF download)

Image: Homer Ahr
Photos: The computer programmers behind NASA’s Apollo missions

Another angle of the RTCC

Image: NASA

Another angle of the RTCC

The Real-Time Computer Complex, taken from the Familiarization Manual for Mission Control Center Houston.

SEE: NASA’s unsung heroes: The Apollo coders who put men on the moon (PDF download)

Image: NASA
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Photos: The computer programmers behind NASA’s Apollo missions

Live from Apollo 13

Live from Apollo 13

The Mission Operations Control Room in NASA’s Mission Control Center at the Manned Spacecraft Center (now Johnson Space Center) in Houston. The image was taken on April 13, 1970, during the fourth television transmission from the Apollo 13 mission.

SEE: NASA’s unsung heroes: The Apollo coders who put men on the moon (PDF download)

Photos: The computer programmers behind NASA’s Apollo missions

Where the Apollo astronauts trained

Image: NASA

Where the Apollo astronauts trained

The Apollo command module mission simulator.

SEE: NASA’s unsung heroes: The Apollo coders who put men on the moon (PDF download)

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Photos: The computer programmers behind NASA’s Apollo missions

Apollo command module mission simulator

Image: NASA

Apollo command module mission simulator

The Apollo command module mission simulator at Manned Spacecraft Center, where Apollo astronauts practiced for their missions.

SEE: NASA’s unsung heroes: The Apollo coders who put men on the moon (PDF download)

Image: NASA
Photos: The computer programmers behind NASA’s Apollo missions

Celebrating the Apollo 11 landing

Image: NASA

Celebrating the Apollo 11 landing

Flight controllers celebrate the successful conclusion of the Apollo 11 lunar landing mission in the Mission Operations Control Room in the Mission Control Center.

SEE: NASA’s unsung heroes: The Apollo coders who put men on the moon (PDF download)

Image: NASA
Photos: The computer programmers behind NASA’s Apollo missions

Walking on the Moon

Image: NASA

Walking on the Moon

Astronaut and lunar module pilot Edwin E. Aldrin Jr. beside the US flag on the lunar surface during Apollo 11. The lunar module is on the left, and the footprints of the astronauts are clearly visible in the soil of the moon.

SEE: NASA’s unsung heroes: The Apollo coders who put men on the moon (PDF download)

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Photos: The computer programmers behind NASA’s Apollo missions

The brains of the Saturn V rocket

Image: NASA

The brains of the Saturn V rocket

The Saturn V Instrument Unit (IU), the “brains” of the Saturn V rocket, was manufactured at International Business Machines (IBM) in Huntsville, Alabama. The IU was three-feet tall, twenty-one feet in diameter, and weighed about 4,000 pounds, and contained the navigation, guidance, control, and sequencing equipment.

SEE: NASA’s unsung heroes: The Apollo coders who put men on the moon (PDF download)

Image: NASA
Photos: The computer programmers behind NASA’s Apollo missions

Apollo 13's main computer

Image: NASA

Apollo 13's main computer

The Apollo Display & Keyboard (DSKY) was the main interface with the Apollo Guidance Computer used onboard the spacecraft. This unit is from the main display console of the command module Odyssey used during Apollo 13.

SEE: NASA’s unsung heroes: The Apollo coders who put men on the moon (PDF download)

Image: NASA
Photos: The computer programmers behind NASA’s Apollo missions

Homer Ahr today

Image: IBM

Homer Ahr today

A modern day image of Homer Ahr.

SEE: NASA’s unsung heroes: The Apollo coders who put men on the moon (PDF download)

Image: IBM
Photos: The computer programmers behind NASA’s Apollo missions

Liftoff

Image: NASA

Liftoff

The launch of Apollo 4 was the first from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

SEE: NASA’s unsung heroes: The Apollo coders who put men on the moon (PDF download)

Image: NASA
Photos: The computer programmers behind NASA’s Apollo missions

Ahr's guest pass from Apollo 17's launch

Image: Homer Ahr

Ahr's guest pass from Apollo 17's launch

The VIP parking pass and badge used by Homer Ahr and his wife Carol when they were IBM honored guests of the astronauts and the NASA Manned Flight Awareness Program for Apollo 17, the last mission to the moon and back.

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By Nick Heath
Nick Heath is a computer science student and was formerly a journalist at TechRepublic and ZDNet.