Calculators in space with Sally Ride (1983)

[pier4r]

Source: https://twitter.com/NASA_Astronauts/stat...WKIuP1sPiA

Most likely the picture was already analyzed but I didn't find it after a brief search.

picture:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c...14-629.jpg (too large for the forum layout)

I see 3 calculators, maybe there are more. I would bet all 3 are HP ones but I cannot identify the models (as I am not a good collector). Which models were and for what were they used? (I expect for backup routines). Also somehow I have the impression they added colored labels? It seem the same model - at least due to the position of the large key and the yellow one above it - but the colors are different for other keys and labels.

[Jurgen Keller]

(06-19-2022 09:23 AM)pier4r Wrote:  …
I see 3 calculators, maybe there are more. I would bet all 3 are HP ones but I cannot identify the models (as I am not a good collector). Which models were and for what were they used? (I expect for backup routines)

Check out the PDF at the end of this article:
HP-41 in Orbit
It contains some information about the usage of HP-41s in space :-)

[Massimo Gnerucci]

(06-19-2022 09:23 AM)pier4r Wrote:  Source: https://twitter.com/NASA_Astronauts/stat...WKIuP1sPiA

Most likely the picture was already analyzed but I didn't find it after a brief search.

picture:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c...14-629.jpg (too large for the forum layout)

I see 3 calculators, maybe there are more. I would bet all 3 are HP ones but I cannot identify the models (as I am not a good collector). Which models were and for what were they used? (I expect for backup routines). Also somehow I have the impression they added colored labels? It seem the same model - at least due to the position of the large key and the yellow one above it - but the colors are different for other keys and labels.

Just one random discussion about it.
They were 3 HP41C.

[jonmoore]

(06-19-2022 09:23 AM)pier4r Wrote:  I see 3 calculators, maybe there are more. I would bet all 3 are HP ones but I cannot identify the models (as I am not a good collector). Which models were and for what were they used? (I expect for backup routines). Also somehow I have the impression they added colored labels? It seem the same model - at least due to the position of the large key and the yellow one above it - but the colors are different for other keys and labels.

They were all HP41's, but each with a custom overlay.

This more recent thread has some great background info, including the actual handbook that details the custom programs NASA developed for the 41's.

https://www.hpmuseum.org/forum/thread-18312.html

http://hp65.genedorr.com/documents/JSC-18778.pdf

[pier4r]

thank you for the resources! Jurgen I added your blog in the wiki4hp as well.

--

update: in another discussion I read that the onboard computer would have take over all the needed backup programs, and only if that one would fail then the 41C would be needed. But in one PDF I read: "Once he decided on the 41, Hart realized he had more than just the handheld scientific calculator NASA had wanted. He started to look for more complex jobs to use it for. The deorbit program is one example. Computation of a deorbit opportunity would have been easy for the onboard computers, but the software for it never was developed."

Thus the onboard computer couldn't provide a backup for all routines if the control station was not reachable (and thus the 41C was the 2nd rather than the 3rd defense line), or did I miss something?

[Didier Lachieze]

(06-19-2022 09:23 AM)pier4r Wrote:  picture:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c...14-629.jpg (too large for the forum layout)

Thanks for the high resolution picture! So far I had only seen much lower resolution versions.

(06-19-2022 11:47 AM)jonmoore Wrote:  They were all HP41's, but each with a custom overlay.

Looking closely at the picture above it seems the HP-41 on the left and the one on the right have the same overlay (but under different lighting condition) while the one on the middle has a different overlay.

[Xorand]

A little more info at the Air and Space museum website.

Link Here