Digital Apollo
Human and Machine in Spaceflight
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Narrated by:
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Kyle Tait
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By:
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David A. Mindell
About this listen
As Apollo 11's lunar module descended toward the moon under automatic control, a program alarm in the guidance computer's software nearly caused a mission abort. Neil Armstrong responded by switching off the automatic mode and taking direct control. He stopped monitoring the computer and began flying the spacecraft, relying on skill to land it and earning praise for a triumph of human over machine. In Digital Apollo, engineer-historian David Mindell takes this famous moment as a starting point for an exploration of the relationship between humans and computers in the Apollo program.
Digital Apollo examines the design and execution of each of the six Apollo moon landings, drawing on transcripts and data telemetry from the flights, astronaut interviews, and NASA's extensive archives. Mindell's exploration of how human pilots and automated systems worked together to achieve the ultimate in flight - a lunar landing - traces and reframes the debate over the future of humans and automation in space. The results have implications for any venture in which human roles seem threatened by automated systems, whether it is the work at our desktops or the future of exploration.
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The first-ever inside look at DARPA - the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency - the maverick and controversial group whose futuristic work has had amazing civilian and military applications, from the Internet to GPS to driverless cars
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meh
- By Patrick on 12-22-09
By: Michael Belfiore
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Final Countdown: NASA and the End of the Space Shuttle Program
- By: Pat Duggins
- Narrated by: Pat Duggins
- Length: 6 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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Journalist Pat Duggins, National Public Radio's resident "space expert", chronicles the planning stages of the Space Shuttle program in the early 1970s, the thrill of the first flight in 1981, construction of the International Space Station in the 1990s, and the decision in the early 2000s to shut the program down.
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End of the Shuttle
- By Jean on 09-25-14
By: Pat Duggins
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Flying the SR-71 Blackbird
- In the Cockpit on a Secret Operational Mission
- By: Richard H. Graham
- Narrated by: Shawn Compton
- Length: 9 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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The Lockheed SR-71, unofficially known as the Blackbird, was an advanced, long-range, Mach 3 strategic reconnaissance aircraft developed by Lockheed Skunk Works. The aircraft flew so fast and high that not one was ever shot down, even by a missile. SR-71 pilot and instructor Colonel Richard Graham offers a rare cockpit perspective on how regular Air Force pilots and navigators transformed themselves into SR-71 Blackbird crews, turning their unique aviation talents to account in an unprecedented way.
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This book is basically void of content or story.
- By Amazon Customer on 06-02-22
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Harnessing the Sky
- Frederick "Trap" Trapnell, the U.S. Navy's Aviation Pioneer, 1923-1952
- By: Frederick M. Trapnell Jr., Dana Trapnell Tibbitts
- Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
- Length: 8 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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A pilot of calculated courage, "Trap" entered the Navy when test pilots were more like stuntmen than engineers. Airplanes had not yet come into their own as weapons of war, and they had an undeveloped role in the fleet. His vision and leadership shaped the evolution of naval aviation through its formative years and beyond. When the threat of war in 1940 raised an alarm over the Navy's deficiency in aircraft - especially fighters - Trap was appointed to lead the Flight Test Section to direct the development of all-new Navy airplanes.
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Superb Book
- By Peter H. Christensen on 09-27-19
By: Frederick M. Trapnell Jr., and others
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Last Days of the Concorde
- The Crash of Flight 4590 and the End of Supersonic Passenger Travel
- By: Samme Chittum
- Narrated by: Teri Schnaubelt
- Length: 8 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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On July 25, 2000, a Concorde, the world's fastest passenger plane, was taking off from Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris when it suddenly burst into flames. An airliner capable of flying at more than twice the speed of sound, the Concorde had completed 25 years of successful flights, whisking wealthy passengers - from diplomats to rock stars to corporate titans - between continents on brief and glamorous flights. Yet on this fateful day, the chartered Concorde jet, en route to America, crashed and killed all 109 passengers and crew onboard and four people on the ground.
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A Solid Introduction
- By Reggie on 03-03-19
By: Samme Chittum
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You Are Here
- From the Compass to GPS, the History and Future of How We Find Ourselves
- By: Hiawatha Bray
- Narrated by: Jonathan Yen
- Length: 10 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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The story of the rise of modern navigation technology, from radio location to GPS—and the consequent decline of privacy. What does it mean to never get lost? You Are Here examines the rise of our technologically aided era of navigational omniscience—or how we came to know exactly where we are at all times. Filled with tales of scientists and astronauts, inventors and entrepreneurs, You Are Here tells the story of how humankind ingeniously solved one of its oldest and toughest problems—only to herald a new era in which it’s impossible to hide.
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I'm here - do you care
- By Nicholas E. Ertz on 04-13-14
By: Hiawatha Bray
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The Crash Detectives
- Investigating the World's Most Mysterious Air Disasters
- By: Christine Negroni
- Narrated by: Christine Negroni
- Length: 7 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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In The Crash Detectives, veteran aviation journalist and air safety investigator Christine Negroni takes us inside crash investigations from the early days of the jet age to the present, including the search for answers about what happened to the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. As Negroni dissects what happened and why, she explores their common themes and, most important, what has been learned from them to make planes safer.
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MISSLEADING TITLE.
- By Daniel Schneider on 11-02-16
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SR-71, the Blackbird, Q&A
- By: Terry Pappas
- Narrated by: Chris Abell
- Length: 4 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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Higher, farther, faster - what every real aviator aspires to. The SR-71 was the epitome of this dream for three decades. The only way to beat the SR-71 was to rocket into space, and every astronaut in the office with me in the 1960s would have loved to have flown the Blackbird. In many ways it placed greater demand on piloting proficiency than any spacecraft.
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Great in sight on life and times of Blackbird crew
- By J Bo on 11-11-15
By: Terry Pappas
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Insiders Reveal Secret Space Programs & Extraterrestrial Alliances
- By: Michael E. Salla
- Narrated by: Jerry Lord
- Length: 13 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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Classified space programs have been an integral part of a complex jigsaw puzzle concerning UFOs, extraterrestrial life, ancient civilizations and advanced aerospace technologies, which have long defied any coherent understanding. Now finally, we have something to put all the pieces together with the disclosures of secret space program whistleblower, Corey Goode. A detailed investigation of Goode’s and other insider testimonies reveals the big picture of a parallel world of secret space programs and extraterrestrial alliances.
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A waste of time
- By Roland Vellanoweth on 03-09-19
By: Michael E. Salla
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Rocket Billionaires
- Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and the New Space Race
- By: Tim Fernholz
- Narrated by: Erin Moon
- Length: 10 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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For the larger-than-life personalities now staking their fortunes on the development of rocket ships, the new race to explore space could be a dead end, a lucrative opportunity - or the key to humanity's salvation. Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos take center stage in this fast-paced narrative as they attempt to disrupt the space economy, feed their own egos, and maybe even save the world.
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Interesting book; hard to listen to
- By K. Thai on 04-12-18
By: Tim Fernholz
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Kelly
- More Than My Share of It All
- By: Clarence L. "Kelly" Johnson, Maggie Smith, Brig. Gen. Leo P. Geary USAF - ret. - foreword
- Narrated by: Johnny Heller
- Length: 6 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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Clarence L. "Kelly" Johnson led the design of such crucial aircraft as the P-38 and Constellation, but he will be more remembered for the U-2 and SR-71 spy planes. His extraordinary leadership of the Lockheed "Skunk Works" cemented his reputation as a legendary figure in American aerospace management.
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Memoir of a Legend
- By Jean on 08-26-19
By: Clarence L. "Kelly" Johnson, and others
What listeners say about Digital Apollo
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Alan Rither
- 03-16-24
Pedantic and Ponderous
This is a story for those who are interested in minutiae of electronic / human interaction. The narrator sounded like a professional speaker with a well-modulated voice. Not bad but boring compared with stories by astronauts.
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Overall
- J. B. Taylor
- 11-11-19
Well written
Having lived through the Apollo era I had many gaps in my knowledge base filled in.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Mark D. Schnittman
- 11-19-20
The interesting, unknown story of Apollo
An interesting read, if your an Engineer like me. They book did a good job of explaining how they used the available technology of the day to build a fly by wire system and a guidance system for the Saturn V launches of Apollo.
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1 person found this helpful
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- John Maxwell
- 06-12-19
Fantastic synopsis
This is a wonderful synopsis of a much underrated and forgotten tool. I really got an appreciation for all of the things that the hardware and software folks went through to pull off this magnificent feat. Its definitely worth the time!
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3 people found this helpful
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- Dan
- 06-10-19
Unique perspective
This book provides a sort of test pilot’s analysis of what it’s like to land on the moon… The last several chapters encompass the Apollo 11- through 17 landings — and are particularly interesting.
In addition, this is one of the few audiobooks in which the narrator correctly pronounces all of the names of the era – – and all of the acronyms correctly.
I recommend it highly for manned space enthusiasts
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5 people found this helpful
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- Jason Griffith
- 08-08-20
A revelatory account for enthusiast and engineer
Working in human spaceflight, this provides fantastic historical context to the human- machine debates that continue on current development spacecraft. Very enjoyable and well told history that takes an objective position in that debate.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Joe Walsh
- 08-05-19
Important reading for human interface folks
I am an Apollo fan so found the story and main points interesting, even if some of the highlights are pretty well worn by now.
The narrator frequently ended phrases with a breathy sustain that I found unbelievably annoying. This forced affectation persisted for the entire reading, although it seemed to get better toward the end of the book. It was very hard to acclimate to it.
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- Joe
- 11-17-22
Resonates with today's autonomy struggles!
From the test pilot personalities to the engineering teams, the characters and story are still relevant today creating flight control systems for complex aircraft. How can man and machine best cooperate to accomplish a mission?
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- Amazon Customer
- 01-21-20
headachie narration and flimsy expertise
I was unable to finish this book because the narrator's performance was giving me a headache. Also, as a computer scientist I was disappointed to find more opinion and less science than I expected about human/computer interaction.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Jane
- 05-06-20
Annoying Narrator, Technical Inaccuracies
I find the narrator's style stilted and irritating. Also, in the first chapter, the author is ascribing the 1201/1202 program alarms to crew workload problems due to Aldrin having to manually aim the docking radar. This is surrounded by a lot of emotional puffery about how we're going to explore the relationship between men and machines in this book.
These landing alarms and the computer resetting were due to Aldrin disregarding mission procedures and leaving both the docking radar and the landing radar on at the same time. He was supposed to shut off the docking radar as they began the descent phase of the flight, and he did not. The computer was not intended to be able to handle the volume of data from both radars at the same time, and so it kept overloading, throwing those alarms, and resetting. It was crew error which caused these alarms, not "electronic noise" (whatever *that* is supposed to mean) as the author claims.
If I can't trust the author to get this key technical detail correct in the first few minutes of this account of one of the outstanding moments of human history, how can I trust anything else he says? If this was "Apollo: an Emotional View" or something, I wouldn't care, but I bought this book because I thought it would go into technical aspects of Apollo. Spaceflight is a technical endeavor, and details matter: it's not interpretive dance or something like that.
I am a great admirer of Buzz Aldrin, and I think he was a hero of American Spaceflight, a patriot, and an awesome fellow all the way around. I don't think he was a failure because of this error, and I have heard this alarm event described as understandable from a piloting point of view. It is not my intention to denigrate Mr. Aldrin. But I do feel it is important that anyone considering buying this audiobook understand that the author of this book has taken liberties with the truth.
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7 people found this helpful