

The Apollo Saturn V LVDC circuit board - carljoseph
http://www.frantone.com/designwritings/design_writings_LVDC.html

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jacquesm
Mixed feelings... On the one hand, fascinating to see the guts of these
circuits revealed, on the other that's destruction on a level that makes me
cringe. I know that she got the board with the specific instructions to
destroy it so I guess she lived up to the promise but taking a chisel to these
bugs me in a way that is hard to put to words.

I guess there is no way back on that one.

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misnome
I'm wondering why the chips themselves, once removed from their placement,
couldn't just be x-rayed, rather than destroyed?

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angdis
They were X-rayed too. X-ray imaging can only tell you so much. I think it is
perfectly acceptable to destroy some to gain an understanding of what these
things actually were. She did a marvelous job of documenting the teardown and
should be commended for that, many more people will have an appreciation for
this historical technology with this documentation.

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zw123456
This is why I love HN, every so often we run across a link like this where
someone is toiling away with just the most fascinating work, often for just
the shear love of the technology. By the way, if you go up to the home page,
there are many more interesting gems from Fran.

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bootload
_"... where someone is toiling away with just the most fascinating work, often
for just the shear love of the technology. ..."_

Fran tech rocks, literally. Check out the pages on the guitar pedal effects:
<[http://www.frantone.com/history.html>](http://www.frantone.com/history.html>)
and <[http://www.frantone.com/about.htm>](http://www.frantone.com/about.htm>)
absolute works of technical art.

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andyjohnson0
Since it's not explicitly stated until near the end of the very long page, the
LVDC was the Saturn V rocket's Launch Vehicle Digital Computer. More details
at [1].

[1]
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturn_Launch_Vehicle_Digital_C...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturn_Launch_Vehicle_Digital_Computer)

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DanBC
It's in the first paragraph, but a bit hidden.

> so that once and for all the real technology beneath the surface could be
> understood, that could explain how the Apollo Launch Vehicle Digital
> Computer really worked.

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andyjohnson0
Thanks. Somehow I missed that.

