Apollo guidance computer.

[Eric Mc]

Simpo Two said:

Eric Mc said:

Apollo was planned at a time when there were many unknowns.

Indeed; most films of the era had astronauts coming back from orbit as giant cacti. After all, nobody had been into space before.

Watching "Quatermass" was a compulsory part of the training curriculum, apparently.

[JimbobVFR]

Einion Yrth said:

Simpo Two said:

It's interesting to reflect whether 'tech' will keep on advancing to things we cannot conceive (such as our parents could not have imagined the internet), or whether it was a one-off surge that will level off - just as manned space flight seems to have been.

Graphene and spintronics could well be game changers and they're only just down the road. There's a long way to go yet.

Indeed and that's just stuff we can kind of conceive, never mind stuff that might very well be unexpected.