RE: RE: starship-design: unmanned missions

["L. Parker" <lparker@cacaphony.net>]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-starship-design@lists.uoregon.edu
> [mailto:owner-starship-design@lists.uoregon.edu]On Behalf Of Paul
> Anderson
> Sent: Friday, February 13, 1998 10:36 AM
> To: Steve VanDevender
> Cc: 'LIT Starship Design Group'
> Subject: RE: RE: starship-design: unmanned missions
>
>
> On Thu, 12 Feb 1998, Steve VanDevender wrote:
>
> >
> > It was definitely digital.  Analog computers have too many moving
> > parts and aren't going to work well during launch or landing
> > operations.
> >
> Who said analog computers need to have any moving parts?  You're thinking
> mechanical computer.  AAMOF, analog computers use operational amplifiers
> and different voltages to represent different numbers, i.e. 1-10 volts(it
> starts at 1 instead of zero so that you can go below 0).  They used two of
> them at ground control during the early apollo missions for calculating
> trajectory.  TTYL!
>
Moving parts? Unless you are counting slide rules and abacus as analog
computers, I've never seen an analog computer with moving parts. I worked
with analog computers in 1965 or so and they were electronic, not solid
state, but definitely no moving parts.

Lee

                                                      (o o)
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Long experience has taught me not to believe in the limitations indicated
by purely theoretical considerations. These - as we well know - are based
on insufficient knowledge of all the relevant factors."

Guglielmo Marconi