Mike scores an Apollo CDU at auction...
Added 2022-12-20 08:35:56 +0000 UTC...and gets more than he bargained for. Watch this Patreon exclusive raw uncut footage of our session, as Mike goes in full Sherlock Holmes mode, and figures out what he actually got, by exploring minute details of his CDU. Which is a way more interesting and noble unit than what he thought he bought!
The CDU, or Coupling Data Unit, is a very important companion box to the Apollo Guidance Computer that we previously restored. Actually, its size and modular construction look eerily similar.
But, most importantly, this is the box that failed - in a very obtuse and complicated way - and caused the infamous 1202 errors during Apollo 11's landing. Mike is convinced, after much research, that the source of the 1202 errors has not been correctly analyzed nor understood by NASA, to this day. And that the situation was much closer to disaster than was reported. But to prove it, we need a CDU to reproduce the failure. And Mike finally got hold of one. Or has he?
If Mike goes over your head, don't worry, I barely can keep up with him too. It will take much editing and added elevator music explanations to make this half-digestible. But the raw unadulterated takes (save for some speeding up of the opening of the CDU) tell the truest story.
Marc
