To the moon, HP-67!!!! Or not.

[Matt Agajanian]

Hello all.

I remember reading here, other HP ads among other resources that the HP-65 was part of some of NASA/JPL's missions (i.e. Soyuz). And I remember that infamous photo of Sally Ride with a few HP-41s in the background. Being that it was leaps & bounds ahead of the HP-65, has the HP-67 been to space?

[Jurgen Keller]

According to HP calculators and space exploration: No. However, I remember to have played the Moon Landing Simulation on a HP-67 when I was a kid, so it was, at least in my mind ;-)

[walter b]

(03-02-2014 08:00 PM)Matt Agajanian Wrote:  I remember reading here, other HP ads among other resources that the HP-65 was part of some of NASA/JPL's missions (i.e. Soyuz).

Correct. Compare "the" manual, pp. 76 and 235.

Quote:And I remember that infamous photo of Sally Ride with a few HP-41s in the background.

Why is that photo infamous? Because NASA didn't listen to its own engineer? That's neither Sally's nor the photographer's fault. It was caused by marketing and politics outweighing technical reasoning, AFAIK.

d:-?

[Steve Simpkin]

Matt,

I don't think the HP-67 had a chance to make it to space. The Apollo-Soyuz test flight flew in July of 1975 before the HP-67 was introduced. Americans did not fly again in space until the first Space Shuttle flight in April 1981. By that time the HP-67 had essentially been replaced with the HP-41.

[edryer]

from http://holyjoe.net/hp/flash05.txt

Remember when HP press releases were interesting? You don't? Maybe
that's because you're not old enough...

Enjoy this glimpse into The Way Things Were...

-Joe-

--------------------------------------------------------------------
HP-65 IN SPACE

"65 Notes", V2 N6 P7 (July 1975)

PALO ALTO, Calif., July 8 -- An ll-oz, $795 pocket calculator that
can be programmed like a computer will play an important role in the
historic Apollo/Soyuz rendezvous in space July 17.

The Hewlett-Packard HP-65 fully programmable pocket calculator will
be used to calculate two critical mid-course correction maneuvers
just prior to the linkup of the U.S. Apollo and the Russian Soyuz
spacecraft. These maneuvers will take place 12 and 24 minutes after
terminal phase initiation (the beginning of the last part of the
flight before rendezvous).

The calculator also will be used as a backup for Apollo's on-board
computer for the final maneuvers prior to rendezvous and docking.
The first use will be for the coelliptic maneuver (putting both
spacecraft into the same orbit) when the vehicles are within
approximately 100 miles of each other. The second will be for the
terminal phase initiation calculations when Apollo is 22 miles from
Soyuz. In both instances, the HP-65 will be used to solve the
problems, and its answers will be compared with those of the
on-board computer.

In the event of an on-board computer failure, however, the HP-65
will provide the only available solution for the mid-course
maneuvers, since the spacecraft will not be in communication with
ground stations at that phase of the mission.

A third set of calculations to be performed by the battery-powered
HP-65 will allow the astronauts to precisely point Apollo's high
gain antenna at an orbiting satellite to assure proper
communications with Earth.

NASA scientists have written programs of up to 1,000 steps and
recorded them on tiny magnetic cards (100 steps per card). The
astronauts will feed these cards into the HP-65 to automatically
perform the critical calculations. In previous space flights, backup
maneuver calculations were made manually, using charts. The HP-65
will substantially reduce the time needed to make the complex
calculations and improve the quality, accuracy and confidence in
resulting solutions.

Two HP-65s will be taken on the space flight, along with four sets
of program cards and six spare battery packs.

The HP-65 is not the first HP pocket calculator to venture into
space; an earlier model, the HP-35, went along on the Skylab
missions.

The HP-65 is a general purpose calculator that can be programmed to
go through a step-by-step routine at the touch of a few keys,
solving extremely complex, lengthy or repetitive calculations
quickly, easily and accurately. Users can write their own programs
for the calculator or buy prerecorded program cards from
Hewlett-Packard in the fields of finance, mathematics, statistics,
electrical engineering, thermodynamics, stress analysis, surveying,
medicine, aviation and marine navigation.

Hewlett-Packard pocket calculators are no strangers to adventure.
They have served high upon the rugged slopes of Mt. Everest; at the
LeMans, France, professional auto races; at the navigator's station
of the sailboat "Courageous" the successful America's Cup defender;
and in the cockpits of Powder Puff Derby aircraft race contestants.

The U. S. spaceship will begin its mission July 15 from Cape
Canaveral.