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On July 21, 1969 at 02:56 UTC, Neil Armstrong stepped off Eagle's footpad and declared, "That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind". On this day I want to commemorate not only the symbolic and historical impact this had, but also the impact it has for the lives of Americans in the modern day.
Small, High Quality Cameras
The CMOS sensor (which analyzes information to generate an image) was originally invented in the 1960s by Fairchild Semiconductor and licensed to NASA, where it was used in satellites and spacecraft. The modern form of the sensor was invented in the 1990s at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where they developed a version of the CMOS sensor that reduced the weight of cameras in spacecraft and needed little energy to take high-quality images from space. This technology has become standard in cell phone cameras.
Wireless Headsets
With a prototype presented by two airline pilots, NASA created a light, hands-free communication system that would enable Apollo astronauts to communicate back to the teams on Earth. It was developed using a tube connected to tiny transducers commonly found in hearing aids, which was inserted into a headband component, where it was for a microphone and receiver. The system was utilized in both the Mercury and Apollo missions. This technology was refined by NASA and the Department of Defense in 1992, and laid the grounds for future versions of the concept used today.
Compact Integrated Circuits
The Apollo spacecraft needed compact, light, and powerful digital computers in order to properly guide itself during missions. The MIT Instrumentation Lab and NASA created the Apollo Guidance Computer with an assuring but relatively unproven technology: the integrated circuit, which carried multiple transistors onto a single silicon chip. The Apollo Program was the largest consumer of integrated circuit chips from 1961 to 1965, and the first application of some chips was for NASA satellites. Companies like Fairchild helped to verify the chips’ reliability by subjecting them to intense temperatures, G-forces, and electrical and visual inspections.
The Apollo Guidance Computer was a success, and led and motivated integrated-circuit technology, helping in part to quicken the silicon chip revolution.
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