Moon Landings

mr magnolia · Post by **mr magnolia** » 09 Sep 2004, 13:26

When I was younger I am sure that I landed on the moon a number of times, courtesy of some simple game playable on a standard (programmable?)calculator.

As I remember it you started with a chosen downward velocity and a certain number of fuel units and by adding in the number of units to be burned you could slow the descent. If you burned too many you gained an upward velocity and zoomed off; if you burned too few you didn't get down in time and ran out of air or something.

No graphics, no sound effects, just numbers on a screen.

Is this a false memory or does anyone else share it? And can you tell me what it is/ was? Would have been around or slightly before the first Space Invaders landed.

Jay · Post by **Jay** » 09 Sep 2004, 15:01

Well, about the time Space Invaders - er - landed - there WAS a game called Moon Landing, wich I remember vividly, as I kept crashing and leaving large craters in the Moon's surface! But this was a pub-machine, with a green and black screen, and simple graphics, and you controlled it by levers. The only sound-effect was when you crashed (loud - so the whole pub knew!

). Maybe the one you're thinking of was an earlier version, before they designed it for non-maths/sceintific types, without the need to calcuate!

General Tactifer · Post by **General Tactifer** » 11 Sep 2004, 01:42

Jay wrote:I remember vividly, as I kept crashing and leaving large craters in the Moon's surface!

So that was you did that! Incidentally, is there not a story/urban legend that the combined power of the computers which put the first men on the moon was about as much as your programmable calculator? (All right, maybe a PC then).

Jay · Post by **Jay** » 13 Sep 2004, 09:45

This is why I have never tried to get a driving-licence.

I don't know abou the urban legend - but do you know why a computer bug is called a 'bug'?

Jay · Post by **Jay** » 13 Sep 2004, 14:11

In the early days of computing in America, some new, fancy one in the American military stopped working, and when they opened it up to see WTH was going on, there this poor moth which had got trapped inside and been zapped - thus proving that nature can still throw a spanner (or a moth) into Humankind's fancy tech. stuff any time it cares to - and because all insects are 'bugs' in the States, thus a computer glitch became a bug - I kid you not!

mr magnolia · Post by **mr magnolia** » 20 Jul 2005, 11:12

Come on people - it's moon landing anniversary time again and I have yet to find an answer to my original question!

Anyone help me recall this game?

Maria · Post by **Maria** » 20 Jul 2005, 11:49

mr magnolia wrote:Come on people - it's moon landing anniversary time again

Ah! That explains why Google has wee aliens on it today!

Novastar · Post by **Novastar** » 20 Jul 2005, 14:36

I had a kind of game like this. You had to keep pressing a key to hover (too much and you crash into the ceiling and to little you crash into the floor) and you had to go round a maze. It was for a Casio 7700 but despite going through it's memory I can't find it. Would have been around 96/97.

foxy · Post by **foxy** » 20 Jul 2005, 14:39

Marya wrote: Ah! That explains why Google has wee aliens on it today!

I love the way Google do that....I'm easily pleased

Skeely · Post by **Skeely** » 20 Jul 2005, 16:11

Zoom right in on the new Google Moon for the amazing truth!

Novastar · Post by **Novastar** » 20 Jul 2005, 17:38

General Tactifer wrote:Incidentally, is there not a story/urban legend that the combined power of the computers which put the first men on the moon was about as much as your programmable calculator? (All right, maybe a PC then).

There is more electronic memory in an 80's wrist watch than put man on the moon.

That's because nearly the whole thing was done mechanically. Only electronics that required memory were to do with the navigation.

This comes from a guy who works in the aerospace industry so I trust his knowledge on this (don't trust it on much else mind....)

CatzVP · Post by **CatzVP** » 20 Jul 2005, 17:57

Mr M,

The HP33E or 67 calculator had a built in game called "Moon Rocket Lander"which sounds like the one your talking about, I remember playing it when I was younger too...

Hope this helps,

Catz