Posts: 1940
From: Fairfax, VA, USA
Registered: Feb 2007

posted 05-07-2008 09:54 PM               

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I swear I've tried to learn the answer for this already, and can't find it anywhere online:

Why were the Apollo guidance computer commands (and I may even have that wrong) shown as "Noun" and "Verb" numbers? Could it possibly be because one command would tell what to work with, and the other would tell what to do?

Thanks,
Steve

Posts: 2178
From: McKinney TX (USA)
Registered: Aug 2005

posted 05-08-2008 07:59 AM               

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This sounds like a job for ... Sy Liebergot! Although, maybe Steve Bales would be a more appropriate choice.

You might want to shoot Sy an e-mail ... if you need to contact Steve Bales, I have his address and he is known to respond to questions when asked.

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John Capobianco
Camden DE

Posts: 353
From: Chattanooga, TN
Registered: Dec 2007

posted 05-08-2008 09:09 AM            

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I've always understood it as a LEGO approach to a programming language. You have a fixed set of shapes, but you can still build all sorts of things.

But, I could be way off. Asking one of the controllers could be very illuminating for all of us.

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posted 05-08-2008 10:14 AM               

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Because it was an intuitive syntax structure (i.e. one which most people are already familiar/comfortable with)..

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Scott Schneeweis
http://www.SPACEAHOLIC.com/

Posts: 176
From: Golden, Colorado, USA
Registered: Nov 2006

posted 05-08-2008 12:25 PM            

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Is there a dictionary of sorts for all of the possible commands for the guidance computer?

It would be interesting that when the Spacecraft Films DVD Apollo 11: To The Moon comes out you could sit there with the codes and understand what they were entering into the computer.

Richard

Posts: 642
From: Cinci, OH
Registered: Mar 2006

posted 05-08-2008 01:37 PM               

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Perhaps you can find some answers in James Tomayko's "Computers in Spaceflight" book. NASA has it online here.

That's been a helpful reference for me in the past.

Cheers,

Kevin

Posts: 501
From: Pearland, Texas USA
Registered: May 2003

posted 05-09-2008 09:09 AM               

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EECOMs were computer illiterate in the Apollo days. However, I excerpted this from the rec. document:

From: Computers in Spaceflight
The NASA Experience

Box 2.3: Apollo Display and Keyboard Displays

Seven displays were available on the DSKY:

• PROG: This was a two-digit display indicating what numbered program the computer was currently executing.
  
• VERB: A two-digit display of the verb number being entered (the verb-noun system is discussed below).
  
• NOUN: A two-digit display of the noun number being entered.
  
• Three five-digit numeric displays, which showed numbers in either decimal or octal (base eight). When a sign was shown with the number, the number was decimal; otherwise, it was octal151.

Using the Keys and the Verb-Noun System

Astronauts used keys to enter information and select programs and actions. Key inputs caused automatic interrupts in the software152. The astronauts would activate a program and then interact with it by requesting and entering information; a typical software load consisted of about 40 programs and 30 simultaneous routines153. Changing programs and making other requests involved using the verb-noun system. Those familiar with current computer keyboards [58] will notice the lack of alphabet keys on the DSKY. Whereas most computer commands are entered by typing in the text of the command, the Apollo computer command list specified verb and noun pairs. There were 100 two-digit numbers available for each, and most were used on any given flight. Examples of verb-noun pairs are "display velocity" and "load angle." Verb 37, for example, was "Change Prog," which enabled the crew to set up a new program for execution.

If, for example, the crew wanted to execute the rendezvous targeting program, an astronaut would first press the VERB key followed by the digits 3 and 7, and then the ENTER key. That sequence informed the computer of a request for a program change. The astronaut would then press 3, 1, and ENTER to tell the computer to execute program P31. Within the program the crew could request maneuver angles (verb 50, noun 18), monitor the changes while a maneuver was in progress (verb 06, noun 18), or request the velocity change required for the next maneuver (verb 06, noun 84), among other functions. The CSM G&C Checklist, a set of "cue cards" on three rings changed for each mission by the Crew Procedures Division in Houston, described all these sequences in detail. The document contained reference data, such as a star list, verb list, noun list, alarm codes, error handling and recovery, and the checklists for each program carried in the computer.

Posts: 3160
From: Belfast, United Kingdom
Registered: Feb 2002