The Apollo program did more than just help humanity to the moon but also to make significant changes in technology here on Earth.

“Apollo was the moment when people stopped talking about how big computers were and started bragging about how small they got,” says MIT professor David Middel.

The control computer, the size of a small suitcase with a display built into the spacecraft’s main console, was a marvel in the trend towards “miniaturization” of technological tools.

With 74 KB of ROM and 4 KB of RAM (an iPhone 14 has a million times more memory), it allowed astronauts to travel 380,000 kilometers from the Earth to the Moon and then land at a specific point on the lunar surface.

Middel notes that the Apollo targeting computer was the first one people bet their lives on since it was inside the ship they were flying on. “It was a very important moment because it showed people that computers can be reliable and can be integrated into other things.”

“Miniaturization” led to PCs and smartphones

This idea led NASA to develop the fly-by-wire technology in the early 1970s that is now used in almost all modern aircraft. Today flight control is electronic and coordinated by computer systems.

This “miniaturization” trend eventually led to the creation of personal computers and “smart” telephones (smartphones). But it was the scale of the Apollo program that helped “transform” this area of ​​Technology, bringing it down in cost and making it available to all people.

In addition, Apollo played an important role in the development of many areas of technology. This is not particularly surprising given the amount of money the US has invested in landing 12 people on the moon.

Pushing technology beyond

“At one point, that was more than 4 percent of the federal budget—hundreds of thousands of people and about 20,000 companies and universities contributed to the Apollo program,” says Tizel Muir-Harmoney, Curator of the Apollo Collection at the Smithsonian National Museum. in Washington DC.

From innovative materials and electronic tools to pre-cooked meals and the microwaves we reheat them in, Apollo has pushed technology to the limit.

“This is a great example of how important it is to make the technology program a key national priority as we see its impact on so many different areas of our lives,” says Muir-Harmony.

^{According to BBC Future.}