Apollo 13
Apollo 13 was the mission where the oxygen tank blew and they had to use the LEM (Lunar Excursion Module) to bring the astronauts home. It all came back to me after the program on BBC2 tonight.
What is not generally known is that the calculations were performed not on a digital computer, but on a PACE 231R analog computer, which was one of the greatest machines ever built. NASA had two slaved together as the analog half of a hybrid simulator of the Apollo mission. When Apollo 13 blew, they reprogrammed it to work out the trajectory that brought everyone home safely.
I used to work on a PACE 231R and know how easy it would have been with that machine to sort out all of the differential equations compared to the sort of digital machines we have today.
Without the analog machines, it may have been that Apollo 13 would have been more unlucky.
Ronnie Biggs
It is wrong that Ronnie Biggs is being kept in jail. He has had several strokes, he can’t speak and what else does he suffer from. He is no threat and would be cheaper to keep in a hospital than a prison. So why not let him out on grounds of costs alone?
In his excellent book, Prison Gate, David Ramsbotham talks of lifers with severe mental disorders and Alzheimer’s who are cluttering up prisons. Like Biggs, they are no threat.
We must be humane in our treatment of prisoners as we will only lower the whole of society to their level.
Cloud-Cuckoo Spending
Every economic commentator says that Gordon Brown needs to cut government spending, but he still persists in saying that capital spending is increasing.
Now, I watch the news just as much as the next person and I get the impression that in an area like education cuts are being made. For instance, here in East Anglia all capital spending in Further Education Colleges appears to have stopped. A friend in a University, says that they have been told to cut costs and sees draconian measures every week.
But Brown says education spending is being increased.
Bollux!
Do We Need New Aircraft Carriers?
I was in India once with my late wife and somebody asked a guide, why India needed to keep such a large army. He replied in one word – Pride.
I have a feeling that we don’t need two massive ships, with their expensive aircraft. In fact, with the exception of the Falklands, have we needed the three smaller ones we’ve got already? Or does Gordon Brown, want to leave a legacy for all times. So perhaps they should be called Gordon Brown and Tony Blair.
If you want to read about the carriers and their costs and politics, go to Robert Peston’s blog.
But then if we cut out the carriers, we can cut out the Joint Strike Fighters and why not add Trident, which is up for renewal anyway. We could then give the troops in Afghanistan equipment better suited to that sort of task. After all I can just see Trident being used on the Taliban!
Brown only wants it for you’ve guessed it – Pride.
Scotland and East Anglia
Radio Five Live was in Scotland today, as it is the tenth anniversary of the Scottish Parliament.
No problem there, but this government has widened the divide in public support between Scotland and many of the English regions. Here in East Anglia, we have the same GDP as Scotland, but have many fewer government jobs, export a lot more, have better health etc.
So we’re doing a lot better except in one respect.
Various projects such as the dualling of the A11 are never completed. We get everybody else’s cast off trains. The government doesn’t want to protect us from the sea. And we now have the farce of the downgrading of Ipswich Hospital with respect to heart patients.
The latter doesn’t actually bother me, as my nearest hospital is Addenbrookes in Cambridge, but the distance from say where I used to live at Felixstowe to Norwich is about two hours. It’s just too far!
Brazilian Armies in Europe
Field Marshal Waldemar Levy Cardoso has just died at 108.
His death highlights a little known story from World War II, where Brazilian soldiers fought against the Axis in Italy. there is more here in this article from the BBC.
But it is not the first time Brazilian soldiers have fought in Europe.
The Meridian Line in Naples
Naples has two of the best museums in the world, let alone Italy. In fact the collection of paintings in the Museo di Capodimonte is considered to be the second best in Italy after the Uffizzi in Florence. But the National Archaeological Museum is to me the more interesting, as I prefer my sculpture to my painting.
Sometimes, in Italy I think that if I’ve seen one Madonna and Child, I’ve seen a hundred. Or perhaps even a thousand.
But the sculptures are stunning. Most are from the Farnese Collection and have been on display in Naples for around 200 years.
The Farnese Bull
The museum is also unusual in that it has a Meridian Line, which shows midday, the seasons and the signs of the Zodiac.
Meridian Line, Naples
It’s accurate too, as this picture with my mobile phone shows. You can just see the time. I would have used a watch, but I wasn’t wearing it after the previous incident.
Meridian Line at Midday
The phone is a legendary Nokia 6310i and is about seven or eight years old. It was in my pocket when I was attacked and doesn’t seemed to have suffered. It’s still on the original battery.
In Your Head You Can Go Anywhere
The title came from the excellent documentary on David Hockney last night on BBC1.
He also said that “You don’t retire doing this, you do it until you fall over.”
I feel like that about programming.
The Anonymous Widower 