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An Apollo 10 DSKY.

The DSKY seems to be one of those "geek thing" that take on a life of their own on the Internet. There's the Virtual Apollo Guidance Computer's DSKY Emulator, an online Javascript DSKY simulator, and even someone building a working, modern-day replica of the Apollo Guidance Computer (along with a working DSKY; check out Part 5).

The sign at the display reads:


"The Fourth Crewmember"

1960s computers had the "smarts" of the average pocket calculator, yet such machines guided nine Apollo missions to the Moon. The Apollo computer was a rugged 60-pound bundle of copper wires. The astronauts respected it, relied on it. It was so important that they dubbed it "the fourth crewmember."

The Display Keyboard (DSKY, pronounced "disky") was used to input data into the Apollo Command module guidance computer. This one flew around the moon aboard Apollo 10 in 1969.


 
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Time picture taken Mon Jun 14 12:13:26 2004
Location picture taken Museum Gallery
Astronaut Hall of Fame
Titusville, FL
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