Posts: 68
Threads: 5
Joined: Sep 2008
I was just thinking about air friction during launch.
Technically, the first "calculator" carried along during a space mission might have been the Pickett N600-ES slide rule that was used onboard five of the Apollo missions. I am lucky enough to have one of these in my collection, along with the original box, manual, and packaging. It all looks factory new.
I can do trig functions with it to reasonable accuracy, and in many cases more quickly than I can do the same operations with an electronic machine. The little thing has less mass than most calculators, being only six inches long, and it is made of 1/10 inch thick solid aluminum. It is difficult to burn this thing out with an unexpected burst of cosmic radiation while venturing outside the protection of atmosphere.
We were required to demonstrate skill with these things when I was studying Aerospace Engineering. I have managed to collect almost everything that has been introduced between then and now. The old originals are still my favorite tools.