Scrap Dealer Finds Apollo-Era NASA Computers In Deceased Engineers Basement

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rgMekanic

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A scrap dealer going through the basement of a deceased engineer discovered 2 Apollo-Era computers, and 325 magnetic data tape reels from NASA. The computers were not removed, as they are so heavy the report says a crane was likely used to move the machines, but the magnetic tapes were taken and examined by NASA Goddard Archives. Most of the tapes were not labelled and of the tapes that were labelled, the content appeared to be space science related with missions including Pioneer and Helios and the inclusive dates range was 1961-1974.

It's a shame nothing really interesting was found on the tapes. Or maybe there was and now it's a NASA coverup job. You can find NASA's full report here.

They belonged to IBM Allegheny Center Pittsburgh, PA 15212. During the 1968-1972 timeframe, IBM was getting rid of the items so [redacted engineer] asked if he could have them and was told he could have them.
 
If they can't lift it out, how did he get them in there in the first place? Assembled them from pieces he snuck out of NASA, one by one?
 
Reminds me of the guy who built a Lamborgini replica in his basement, and when he was done, he dug hole into the basement wall to get it out.
 
Goddard...My old haunt.

I'm surprised he managed to get them. NASA rarely throws out anything. When I was there in the 90's we still had a volt meter using tubes and a layered wire number display. that had to be a relic of the 50's/60's.

Heck I rummaged through left over parts on old satellites that were prototypes, backups, or failed projects.

And there were some really old farts back in those days. Well into their 80's and sharp as a tack. There was a woman named Carol in building 21 who was in her 80's and was doing laser Interferometry work designing satellites.

I had a lot of respect for that woman. I'm disappointed that more girls don't look up to engineering as a good career these days.
 
RogueTadhg said:
I want those computers... :D
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Those would be great for an IT/man cave! (or woman cave, for you IT girls) I bet they are worth quite a bit!

And a CRANE??? Seriously!? 4 guys that are not weaklings can move a lot with a dolly.
 
I wonder just how much gold is in those computers. Back in the day they used gold for contacts and traces, and IBM is notorious for using gold foil for CPU mounting and such. Could be quite a bit..
 
The assessment also showed that the magnetic tapes were in poor condition and almost all were affected by moderate to severe mould, which is identified as a health risk.

The archivist’s final recommendation: Destroy the tapes. “There is no evidence that suggests this material is historically significant... I recommend disposal through the immediate destruction of all magnetic tapes.”
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Damn, I'd buy a couple if I could.

the-one1 said:
If they can't lift it out, how did he get them in there in the first place? Assembled them from pieces he snuck out of NASA, one by one?
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It isn't a can't, it's a won't.
NASA told the family of the deceased that it was not in the junk removal business. “No, we do not need the computers,” NASA told the family of the deceased. “We have no use for [them].”

The report drily notes, “The computers were not removed from the residence due to their size and weight.”
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the-one1 said:
If they can't lift it out, how did he get them in there in the first place?
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aliens-thumb.jpg
 
the-one1 said:
Reminds me of the guy who built a Lamborgini replica in his basement, and when he was done, he dug hole into the basement wall to get it out.
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NCIS Agent Gibbons built a boat in his basement ... I don't know if he got it out, I stopped watching.
 
At least he saved the tapes. Those idiots at Nasa would have erased them like they did the apollo 11 tapes.

I still can't believe that nasa managed to destroy the original moonwalk footage. Easily one of mankind's greatest achievements(easily one of the ones we recorded) and they destroyed the best copies we had. Something that will be replayed for hundreds of years or at least until the fall of our society.
 
Orddie said:
i dont think they will mine very well.

that's the only thing you all are doing with your computers, right?
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I've never mined. The closest I did was back in the day let my computer help solve chemistry questions... I can't even remember the thing. It used whatever resources I wasn't using while doing calculations.
 
RogueTadhg said:
I've never mined. The closest I did was back in the day let my computer help solve chemistry questions... I can't even remember the thing. It used whatever resources I wasn't using while doing calculations.
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Folding proteins with folding at home?
 
DigitalGriffin said:
Goddard...My old haunt.

I'm surprised he managed to get them. NASA rarely throws out anything. When I was there in the 90's we still had a volt meter using tubes and a layered wire number display. that had to be a relic of the 50's/60's.

Heck I rummaged through left over parts on old satellites that were prototypes, backups, or failed projects.

And there were some really old farts back in those days. Well into their 80's and sharp as a tack. There was a woman named Carol in building 21 who was in her 80's and was doing laser Interferometry work designing satellites.

I had a lot of respect for that woman. I'm disappointed that more girls don't look up to engineering as a good career these days.
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Did you meet or know any of the "Hidden figures crew" ?

Still a movie that on the list of movies to see when I update my flatscreen (along with better sound). Yeah, I know , but I was the guy that bought "The matrix" DVD before I had a DVD player. One of the few that had heard about them. Maybe a movie to get more female minds to appreciate the sciences. Hope that more about the stuff comes out, now its possible to really measure how much better a smart phone is to the computers that ran NASA back in the day. Interesting stuff.......
 
swatbat said:
At least he saved the tapes. Those idiots at Nasa would have erased them like they did the apollo 11 tapes.

I still can't believe that nasa managed to destroy the original moonwalk footage. Easily one of mankind's greatest achievements(easily one of the ones we recorded) and they destroyed the best copies we had. Something that will be replayed for hundreds of years or at least until the fall of our society.
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The guy that erased/overwrote the NASA tapes was probably a new hire that had new and great ideas.

True story:
A new hire at NBC(national broadcasting network) felt that NBC was wasting money paying storage fees to archive all of their old shows. New, New, New. What a waste of money. So he threw a bulk of them all out. Master tapes, the old reel to reel video tapes and ampex - you get the idea. Some guy looked at all of the old stuff and instead of throwing them out, asked if he could have them and of course - since they were considered garbage, no problem. Take as many as you want. Took a van full.

He set up a business based on the old stuff that he rescued. Today< at that time> NBC was buying/renting footage from the guy that kept the videos. People sometimes make decisions based on what they think seems good, with no understanding of the long term. Even NASA is sometimes susceptible to stupidity. (not going into challenger and freezing temperatures)
 
Khahhblaab said:
The guy that erased/overwrote the NASA tapes was probably a new hire that had new and great ideas.

True story:
A new hire at NBC(national broadcasting network) felt that NBC was wasting money paying storage fees to archive all of their old shows. New, New, New. What a waste of money. So he threw a bulk of them all out. Master tapes, the old reel to reel video tapes and ampex - you get the idea. Some guy looked at all of the old stuff and instead of throwing them out, asked if he could have them and of course - since they were considered garbage, no problem. Take as many as you want. Took a van full.

He set up a business based on the old stuff that he rescued. Today< at that time> NBC was buying/renting footage from the guy that kept the videos. People sometimes make decisions based on what they think seems good, with no understanding of the long term. Even NASA is sometimes susceptible to stupidity. (not going into challenger and freezing temperatures)
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Do you feel good about escalating this garbage? The single greatest event EVER and they lost the tapes. And this is an okay narrative for you? Really?
To such a point you indulge in a parallel delusion to explain it, even though they couldn't be any more distant in their reality or impact?
If you such a historian then, who at NASA fucked up? Why were they so stupid? Why would no one take care of film of the greatest event ever? Why did all of the telemetry data also disappear? What, more stupid people?
OMG! Film and data BOTH wiped from history?
Probably a coincidence eh?
 
Amazing find and what a piece of history.
This is probably what people will find in my basement 50 years from now! :D
 
1961 through 1974 and NASA was looking for Hyperion's Moonbase? Something is amiss, I tell ya...

:D
 
the-one1 said:
Reminds me of the guy who built a Lamborgini replica in his basement, and when he was done, he dug hole into the basement wall to get it out.
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In high school my cousin built an Ultralite in his basement and then figured out it wouldn't fit out the sliding door. He had to completely disassemble it to get it out :)
 
Looking at some of the pictures, I think the known supply of US made nixie tubes just doubled. As far as the weight, I bought some surplus equipment at a university auction. One of the items was a 3U memory unit. All of 2k of core memory. Weighed about 50lbs. Large transformer, multiple 2.5" x 6" caps, a nice linear PS, about 15 circuit cards, bus for cards, and a 7"x7" card with the cores. Can imagine the transformer for the computer could be a couple hundred pounds. Heavy transformer needs a heavy structure to support.
 
Well, they'd be immune to the radiation from Fukushima .... strap them to roller skates, write some Cobol and send them in!!!!
 
funkydmunky said:
Do you feel good about escalating this garbage? The single greatest event EVER and they lost the tapes. And this is an okay narrative for you? Really?
To such a point you indulge in a parallel delusion to explain it, even though they couldn't be any more distant in their reality or impact?
If you such a historian then, who at NASA fucked up? Why were they so stupid? Why would no one take care of film of the greatest event ever? Why did all of the telemetry data also disappear? What, more stupid people?
OMG! Film and data BOTH wiped from history?
Probably a coincidence eh?
Click to expand...

You missed the point. Its just about making a statement so "SOMETHING LIKE THIS DOESNT HAPPEN AGAIN". Those who forget history are inclied to repeat it. By posting similar stories, it may be possible to prevent it from happining again. People are funny, (here i go again) when something happens one time, its a happenstance. Twice, something's wierd. Three times a congressional committee is formed to stop it from happening again. May be seen as bringing up old news again to you, but thats what the topic is about - and how it related to "you".

BTW, nowhere was a delusional thing stated, and I wasnt the first to bring up the tapes. Just glad that someone recorded off the video monitor in australia or there would be no official video record.
 
ChoGGi said:
Damn, I'd buy a couple if I could.

Well it happened again. Some woman rescued the bag that neil armstrong used to collect moon dust from some guy on e-bay. Paid $900 bucks. After getting it authenticated by NASA, it was almost lost again - to NASA, that said that it should neven have been away from home. She sued and won, getting the bag back and the slight amounts of moon dust that was in it.

It will be on sale again - expected price? 2-4 Million dollars...............for a $900 item. This is getting nuts, but what a payday.

Oh, yeah. The auction is July 20th. Get your wallets out

http://www.collectspace.com/news/news-071817a-sothebys-space-auction-moon-bag.html
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Khahhblaab said:
You missed the point. Its just about making a statement so "SOMETHING LIKE THIS DOESNT HAPPEN AGAIN". Those who forget history are inclied to repeat it. By posting similar stories, it may be possible to prevent it from happining again. People are funny, (here i go again) when something happens one time, its a happenstance. Twice, something's wierd. Three times a congressional committee is formed to stop it from happening again. May be seen as bringing up old news again to you, but thats what the topic is about - and how it related to "you".

BTW, nowhere was a delusional thing stated, and I wasnt the first to bring up the tapes. Just glad that someone recorded off the video monitor in australia or there would be no official video record.
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Go look in a mirror and repeat that to yourself. If you believe you are not delusional, then I feel for ya.
 
funkydmunky said:
Go look in a mirror and repeat that to yourself. If you believe you are not delusional, then I feel for ya.
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Even though I know that this may be going nowhere since I attempted to point you to a sale that you may be interested in but all you can say is that somehow I am making this stuff up,

click this link: http://www.sothebys.com/en/news-vid...fact-from-apollo-11-to-appear-at-auction.html

If you dont find an auction about apollo 11 and that an item may fetch 4 million dollars, then I gotta check myself on things. If you do find an auction, then nasa loses stuff from time to time because they are people. Bid on the remaining stuff, it should make you feel better to have your own personal nasa stuff if you win.

I am pro nasa, I am just aware that even in the most technological arenas, S**T sometimes happens. Hope that its less b4 mars missions become real.
 
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