# Grammar in space? (noun and verb in movie Apollo 13) **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 8, 2010, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-in-space-noun-and-verb-in-movie-apollo-13/542418 "2010-06-08T13:21:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![whatami](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/85f322/32.png) [@whatami](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whatami)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-in-space-noun-and-verb-in-movie-apollo-13/542418/1 "2010-06-08T13:21:34Z")
I was watching Apollo 13 while getting ready for work this morning. The guidance computer is shown several times. It has three, I guess headings. Prog, which I assume is “program”, noun, and verb. What do noun and verb mean in this case? ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-in-space-noun-and-verb-in-movie-apollo-13/542418/2 "2010-06-08T13:35:01Z")
> **[Apollo Guidance Computer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_guidance_computer)** > > The Apollo Guidance Computer (AGC) was a digital computer produced for the Apollo program that was installed on board each Apollo command module (CM) and Apollo Lunar Module (LM). The AGC provided computation and electronic interfaces for guidance, navigation, and control of the spacecraft. The AGC was the first computer based on silicon integrated circuits. The computer's performance was comparable to the first generation of home computers from the late 1970s, such as the Apple II, TRS-80, an Th... ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-in-space-noun-and-verb-in-movie-apollo-13/542418/3 "2010-06-08T13:54:04Z")
[QUOTE=wikipedia] Commands were entered numerically, as two-digit numbers: Verb, and Noun. Verb described the type of action to be performed and Noun specified which data was affected by the action specified by the Verb command. [/QUOTE] This is from the link above. ---
**Author:** ![whatami](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/85f322/32.png) [@whatami](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whatami)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-in-space-noun-and-verb-in-movie-apollo-13/542418/4 "2010-06-08T21:57:23Z")
Thanks! I didn’t even think of looking there… ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Mondegreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/91b2a8/32.png) [@Lord\_Mondegreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Mondegreen)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-in-space-noun-and-verb-in-movie-apollo-13/542418/5 "2010-06-10T06:36:50Z")
I love that some of the verbs are preceded by “please.” They were very polite to their computers. Maybe they were afraid a computer would turn against them like HAL did with Dave. ---
**Author:** ![JoeH2O](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@JoeH2O](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoeH2O)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-in-space-noun-and-verb-in-movie-apollo-13/542418/6 "2010-06-10T12:18:52Z")
The Apollo guidance computer was one of the most remarkable parts of the whole Apollo program, second only to the design of the turbopumps that fed the F1 engines on the first stage of the Saturn 5. (The entire Apollo program was a project to design a turbopump with “going to the moon” tacked on as an extra). I love how the computer’s memory was measured in bytes per foot, since it was literally woven onto rope by little old ladies. ---
**Author:** ![whatami](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/85f322/32.png) [@whatami](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whatami)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-in-space-noun-and-verb-in-movie-apollo-13/542418/7 "2010-06-10T14:29:26Z")
> [@JoeH2O](#): > > The Apollo guidance computer was one of the most remarkable parts of the whole Apollo program, second only to the design of the turbopumps that fed the F1 engines on the first stage of the Saturn 5. (The entire Apollo program was a project to design a turbopump with “going to the moon” tacked on as an extra). > > **I love how the computer’s memory was measured in bytes per foot, since it was literally woven onto rope by little old ladies.** Bolding mine Can you expand on this? I don’t really get it and didn’t see it in the Wikipedia article. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-in-space-noun-and-verb-in-movie-apollo-13/542418/8 "2010-06-10T14:43:38Z")
> [@whatami](#): > > Can you expand on this? I don’t really get it and didn’t see it in the Wikipedia article. in the article is a link to > **[Core rope memory](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Core_rope_memory)** > > Core rope memory is a form of read-only memory (ROM) for computers. It was used in the UNIVAC I (Universal Automatic Computer I) and the UNIVAC II, developed by the Eckert-Mauchly Computer Corporation in the 1950s, as it was a popular technology for program and data storage in that era. It was later used in the 1960s by early NASA Mars space probes and then in the Apollo Guidance Computer (AGC), which was built by Raytheon. > The software for the AGC was written by programmers at the Massachusetts... ---
**Author:** ![JoeH2O](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@JoeH2O](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoeH2O)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-in-space-noun-and-verb-in-movie-apollo-13/542418/9 "2010-06-10T14:44:38Z")
Sure, back in the early days, ICs were in their infancy and weren’t proven in a space environment, so they went back to weaving the memory. They would write programs and these would print out in binary on huge sheathes of that printer paper with the alternate folding and the perforated edges and this would be take off the Little Old Ladies. There were many of them, and they painstakingly wove the programs into rope. Every half foot or so there was a metal ring on a core of cable, and alongside that core would run a second cable. For a binary 1 they would pass the cable through the metal ring, for a 0 they would pass it over the outside, skipping it out. In this way a long “rope” would have a program that started at one end, and was written linearly along its length. The official name was Core Rope Memory. I see that it had a considerable advantage in memory density compared to magnetic memory of the period. > **[Core rope memory](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Core_rope_memory)** > > Core rope memory is a form of read-only memory (ROM) for computers, first used in the 1960s by early NASA Mars space probes and then in the Apollo Guidance Computer (AGC) and programmed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Instrumentation Lab and built by Raytheon. > Software written by MIT programmers was woven into core rope memory by female workers in factories. Some programmers nicknamed the finished product LOL memory, for Little Old Lady memory. > By the standards of the time, a... ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-in-space-noun-and-verb-in-movie-apollo-13/542418/10 "2010-06-10T15:18:52Z")
Fascinating. I don’t want to start another Apollo guidance computer thread, and the Wiki article isn’t doing it for me, but how did the computer actually navigate or guide? On Earth one might rely on the Earth’s magnetic field, or celestial bodies for navigation, but in space what specifically was used as reference points, and how? It’s not like they had optical sensors monitoring the position of the Sun, Moon, and Earth. And certainly speed would be a totally arbitrary number based, perhaps on the time/distance from Earth. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-in-space-noun-and-verb-in-movie-apollo-13/542418/11 "2010-06-10T16:12:15Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Fascinating. I don’t want to start another Apollo guidance computer thread, and the Wiki article isn’t doing it for me, but how did the computer actually navigate or guide? On Earth one might rely on the Earth’s magnetic field, or celestial bodies for navigation, but in space what specifically was used as reference points, and how? It’s not like they had optical sensors monitoring the position of the Sun, Moon, and Earth. And certainly speed would be a totally arbitrary number based, perhaps on the time/distance from Earth. Am I allowed to answer my own question? From another Wiki article on the [PGNCS.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_PGNCS) Inertial Measurement Unit > [@](#): > > The IMU was gimbaled on three axes. The innermost stable member, a 6 inch beryllium cube, had three gyroscopes and three accelerometers mounted in it. Feedback loops including the resolvers used signals from the gyroscopes to control motors at each axis. This servo system kept the stable member fixed with respect to inertial space. The IMU was derived from the guidance system developed by Draper for the Polaris missile. > > Inertial guidance systems are not perfect and Apollo system drifted about one milliradian per hour. Thus it was necessary to “realign” the inertial platform periodically by sighting on stars. Optical unit > [@](#): > > The CM had a fixed sextant the AOT, which could measure angles between stars, and Earth or Moon landmarks and planetary horizon. The unit included a scanning telescope for star sightings, and could be used to determine position and orientation in space. In contrast, the LM had an Alignment Optical Telescope, and could only determine the craft’s orientation. The outer element of the AOT was a sun-shielded prism that could be rotated to one of three fixed positions relative to the LM, in order to cover a large portion of the lunar sky. When rotated, the AOT’s position was readable by the AGC; by pointing the reticule at several different stars, the computer could determine the craft’s orientation. 1960s? Wow! ---
**Author:** ![EdwardLost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bbe5ce/32.png) [@EdwardLost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EdwardLost)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-in-space-noun-and-verb-in-movie-apollo-13/542418/12 "2010-06-10T16:23:46Z")
> [@Lord\_Mondegreen](#): > > I love that some of the verbs are preceded by “please.” They were very polite to their computers. > > Maybe they were afraid a computer would turn against them like HAL did with Dave. They were always polite to HAL, and he still turned against them. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-in-space-noun-and-verb-in-movie-apollo-13/542418/13 "2010-06-10T16:29:51Z")
> [@Lord\_Mondegreen](#): > > Maybe they were afraid a computer would turn against them like HAL did with Dave. > [@EdwardLost](#): > > They were always polite to HAL, and he still turned against them. HAL was very polite in return. ---
**Author:** ![JoeH2O](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@JoeH2O](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoeH2O)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-in-space-noun-and-verb-in-movie-apollo-13/542418/14 "2010-06-10T17:09:00Z")
> [@EdwardLost](#): > > They were always polite to HAL, and he still turned against them. He didn’t actually turn against them. He was struggling to resolve the conflict of two orders that he was unable to follow - to keep a secret from the crew while simultaneously never lying to them or hiding things from them. His logical choice was to kill them to resolve this. He didn’t actually bear any ill will towards the crew per se. Also, on topic: yes, the AGC was an extremely awesome piece of 60s technology combined with all the measurement units. It faced one of the toughest tests during the Apollo 13 accident when the sun was used as a reference point since the amount of reflective debris around the craft was making it hard to navigate by the stars. I don’t think using such a large and bright body to align the system had been used for primary navigation in that way before. ---
**Author:** ![Bytegeist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9dc877/32.png) [@Bytegeist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bytegeist)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-in-space-noun-and-verb-in-movie-apollo-13/542418/15 "2010-06-10T17:56:54Z")
> [@JoeH2O](#): > > [HAL] was struggling to resolve the conflict of two orders that he was unable to follow - to keep a secret from the crew while simultaneously never lying to them or hiding things from them. **His logical choice was to kill them** to resolve this. I’d still file a bug report, if I were Dave. Sounds to me like a quick fix. ```auto def HAL_run_loop(self): while self.awake: set = setOfTasksToDoNow_Given(Universe.currentState); for elem in set: if elem.verb == kKill and elem.directObject == kEntireCrew: set.remove(elem) # <-- added for this release! self.execute(set) ... ``` ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-in-space-noun-and-verb-in-movie-apollo-13/542418/16 "2010-06-10T18:14:38Z")
Really, if you get to an instruction to kill the entire crew, you should probably just throw an exception. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-in-space-noun-and-verb-in-movie-apollo-13/542418/17 "2010-06-10T18:35:08Z")
Cue dramatic space horror movie music. In space, no one can hear you misconjugate! ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-in-space-noun-and-verb-in-movie-apollo-13/542418/18 "2010-06-10T22:11:10Z")
> [@Wikipedia](#): > > The innermost stable member, a 6 inch beryllium cube, had three gyroscopes and three accelerometers mounted in it. The beryllium [del]sphere[/del] cube! ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2010, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-in-space-noun-and-verb-in-movie-apollo-13/542418/19 "2010-06-11T00:18:00Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Fascinating. I don’t want to start another Apollo guidance computer thread, and the Wiki article isn’t doing it for me, but how did the computer actually navigate or guide? On Earth one might rely on the Earth’s magnetic field, or celestial bodies for navigation, but in space what specifically was used as reference points, and how? It’s not like they had optical sensors monitoring the position of the Sun, Moon, and Earth. And certainly speed would be a totally arbitrary number based, perhaps on the time/distance from Earth. While Apollo used a strictly inertial system backed up by manual celestial measurements, both the UGM-73 ‘Poseidon C3’ and the LGM-30F/G 'Minuteman II/III" boost vehicles (developed in the mid-'Sixties) had stellar navigation systems to refine the fairly crude inertial systems, and the post-boost stages of both, as well as those of the Trident I C4 and TII D5 (which position the MIRV bus to release payloads to precise impact points) used optical stellar systems for alignment. The LGM-118A ‘Peacekeeper’ and LGM-134 ‘Midgetman’ (never deployed operationally) developed in the early 'Eighties used strictly inertial systems that were astonishingly capable of measuring position strictly by thrust and orientation inputs. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2010, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-in-space-noun-and-verb-in-movie-apollo-13/542418/20 "2010-06-11T02:46:58Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > While Apollo used a strictly inertial system backed up by manual celestial measurements, both the UGM-73 ‘Poseidon C3’ and the LGM-30F/G 'Minuteman II/III" boost vehicles (developed in the mid-'Sixties) had stellar navigation systems to refine the fairly crude inertial systems, and the post-boost stages of both, as well as those of the Trident I C4 and TII D5 (which position the MIRV bus to release payloads to precise impact points) used optical stellar systems for alignment. The LGM-118A ‘Peacekeeper’ and LGM-134 ‘Midgetman’ (never deployed operationally) developed in the early 'Eighties used strictly inertial systems that were astonishingly capable of measuring position strictly by thrust and orientation inputs. > > Stranger Well, that certainly clears it up nicely. 😕 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-in-space-noun-and-verb-in-movie-apollo-13/542418.md?page=2)