REASONS FOR GOING DIGITAL
BEFORE COMPUTERS
Before the invention and use of computers and information systems, data and information was typically processed manually using techniques such as pen and paper, printed text, surveys and interviews, catalogue systems and filing cabinets.
NASA in the Past
NASA was first established in 1958, around 15 years after when the first computer was invented in 1943. However, due to technological limitations, data and information had to be processed in ways different from today. Many of the advanced scientific instruments that are often equipped to modern spacecraft would not have been possible back then due to the limitations in information technology as well as aerospace engineering.
Although this was the case, NASA was still able to successfully land several Apollo missions on the moon with the first being Apollo 11 in 1969. This was achieved with incredible optimisations in the onboard computers which aided in flying the command module to and from the Moon as well as flying the lunar module down to the Moon's surface and back up. These computers were designed by scientists and engineers at NASA to be incredibly compact as well as capable of performing these complex calculations, creating the smallest and fasted computers of the era.
Image retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_11
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ADVANTAGES OF DIGITAL
Digital data comes with many notable advantages including:
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Ease of editing
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Ease of storage
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Quick search
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Performing calculations
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Ease of transmission
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NASA in the present
Today, NASA is able to use current information technology in order to reek the benefits from the advantages that come with digital data. Space exploration missions can be conducted at a much faster, efficient and cost-effective rate than when NASA was first established due to the improvements in automatic data and information processing. Mathematical calculations and complex physics problems can be solved and simulated with ease as a result of digital data.