In my Engineering Apollo class, we were fortunate to have Cline Frasier (
bio) come in to speak with us. Cline played an important role in the development of the Apollo Guidance and Control systems (the software and hardware that provided navigation for all stages of the spacecraft)
Notes:
He has a MS in Mechanical Engineering
Wasn't responsible for the software, just the hardware
Software took 1400 labor years to build
Hardware took 1500 labor years to build
Takes a great amount of management to control interface specs between contractors (Grumman and North American were subcontractors for the G&C system)
Experts are not always right
Backup plans are expensive, but not having them when you need them is even more expensive
Only way to know what is really going on is to listen to the troops
Details are important
Doesn't believe Software projects are doomed to always be late – it requires an extraordinary amount of management
2 Comments:
That's my uncle...
My dad worked with Cline on Project Apollo. I'm headed out to MIT next week. Anybody have contact info for Cline? I lost his phone number ages ago...
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