Marshall Space Flight Center director Dr. Wernher von Braun (right) reviews orbital mechanics calculations for a translunar space vehicle trajectory simulation with Dr. Helmut Hoelzer (left), director of the computation division, and Dr. Eberhard Rees, deputy director for research and development at the MSFC Computation Division lab, Huntsville, Alabama, USA, June 15, 1960.
They are using a 36-bit IBM 7090 second-generation computer the first "standard" 7090 to be put into operation since serial number 1 came off the assembly line and was installed in December 1959 at Thule BMEWS Air Base in Greenland. At a press conference earlier that day, Dr. von Braun said. "In a decade," he added, "computers have developed from a curiosity and convenience in space vehicle design to an integral, indispensable element of our work" An impressive array of computing power is found at MSFC - power which establishes the center's computer facility as the largest, by far, in the southeast United States. In mid-June, the 7090 was operating in one of two large adjoining rooms which also housed an IBM 704, 705, and 709. Elsewhere in the Huntsville complex five Burroughs 205s, 10 Royal McBee LGP-30s, four IBM 610s, three Burroughs E-101s and a Bendix G-15 were helping to meet the center's computational demands. The center also maintains a 205 at Cape Canaveral. The 704 and 709 were replaced by a second 7090 on July 21. Eight IBM 1401s are on order and the division will get a second 705 in September. Four of the 1401s will support the 7090s and four will back up the 705s. The mission of the Computation Laboratory was the application of computing science and techniques in the field of guided or ballistic missiles and space vehicles.
Sylvania MOBIDIC (MObile DIgital Computer)
Was a 36-bit fully transistorized 3rd generation mobile computer intended to store, sort and route information as one part of the U.S. Army Signal Corps FIELDATA concept aimed to automate the distribution of battlefield data in any form, ensuring the delivery of reports to the proper recipients regardless of the physical form they were sent or received. The 32,000 transistor AN/MYK-1 MOBIDIC was deployed in 1958, mounted in the trailer of a semi-trailer truck, while a second supplied power, allowing it to be moved about the battlefield.
FIELDATA was a pioneering computer project run by the US Army Signal Corps in the late 1950s that intended to create a single standard (MIL-STD-188A) for collecting and distributing battlefield information. In this respect it could be thought of as a generalization of the US Air Force's SAGE system that was being created at about the same time. Much of the FIELDATA system was the specifications for the format the data would take, leading to a character set that would be a huge influence on the American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) a few years later. Reference: Sylvania MOBIDIC Mobile Digital Computer Program.
This Old Lawn Mower Is An Eye-Catcher
Among his large tractor and walk-behind mower collection, Jack Force of Canton, Penn., has a red 1940’s mower that always gets a lot of attention.
“The Sensation is one of the rarest ones. I’ve only found a photo of one other Sensation,” Force says. “The one I have was built with wood wheels during World War II.”