40 Years of Lunar Lander (and other articles)

[Keatah]

https://www.technologizer.com/2009/07/19/lunar-lander/

http://www.rawbw.com/~allen/media_coverage.html

 

I loved reading the Lunar Lander article. They were right about it being one of the most cloned games ever. Some systems having 10 or even more ports of it.

 

The first graphical version in 1973 IIRC used a light pen to control the thrusters. And I remember (quite well) playing it on my Ti-59 and TRS-80 Pocket Computer! I also recently discovered a disk image for the TRS-80 Model II that supposedly has a version. Now I can't wait to try that out!

 

Lunar Lander in rough graphical format always held a bit of a mysterious scientific aura about it. It was dealing with space and the moon, something every kid could read and dream about in the 1970's. And it was the source of many highly imaginative gaming sessions once I was old enough to understand it.

 

[youxia]

It's amazing how many thrills such a simple gameplay concept can provide. It's also a bit sad that some smartphone kids probably think that Flappy Bird and other such "simple" games are somehow innovative and never have been done before.

 

Speaking of LL clones I was recently impressed by 1985 -The Day After (C64), it's sort of open-world (yeah, you go to different planets and all and the controls are super tight. Lots of hair-raising moments with this one.

 

EDIT: had to post this pic, this is true retro computing porn

 

Edited June 6, 2018 by youxia

[Omega-TI]

After reading the article above, if you feel a great need to play a game of the classic arcade version...

 

 

<< CLICK HERE >>

[ClausB]

My first Atari 2600 kernel is a lunar lander: http://atariage.com/forums/topic/152903-my-first-kernel/?do=findComment&comment=1871217

[Jim Pez]

Great game it's too bad it was never released on any home consoles back in the day.

[mr_me]

I didn't know there were high schools with computers in the 1960s.

 

I also didn't know that Atari's arcade Lunar Lander had user selected difficulty settings. Mame should have a setting indicator. Strong gravity is crazy difficult and realistic rotational momentum makes it extra challenging. That giant thrust lever on the arcade machine makes it easier to set it just right. I do remember playing something fairly similar but simpler on the c64.

 

If you were a kid in the 1970s you might have been obsessed with the NASA moon landings. Even after the Apollo program ended we were looking forward to more space exploration. NASA was a huge disappointment.

[Keatah]

NASA just represents the will of the president and congress (and the people indirectly). They say do this. And NASA says ok, it will cost X amount of dollars, they get paid and they do it.

 

I'm fairly certain that manned exploration was curtailed because of the cost of the technology. It cost something like 600 million - 1 billion to launch a shuttle? Not exactly hopping into a Colonial Viper for a trip down to some planet. That's what a kid's idea of space exploration was in the 60's or 70's. Buck Rogers, Battlestar Galactica, Star Wars..

 

I even wrote into NASA asking if they had turbos and lasers on the space shuttle! They wrote back and included some pamphlets and diagrams. I looked it over and got bored with the idea of becoming an astronaut. If there were no space battles I wasn't interested.

 

And I don't believe people should be going into space until we have better tech and materials.

 

---

 

I remember being obsessed with space colonies however.. They seemed like they could be real. And that we just, had, to, do, it!! I dreamed I could sit inside one, play with my VCS, and watch the stars and planets with my telescope.

[Omega-TI]

Three things futurists usually FAIL to take into consideration.

 

#1) The cyclical nature of economic driving forces and how they effect funding.

#2) Political will or military necessity to overcome #1

#3) Government regulations or treaty obligations.

 

All three of these can have a MAJOR effect on the timeline to realize the end goal.

 

These things can effect everything from drones, flying cars or manned space travel among other things.

[mr_me]

I always thought it was political involvement that curtailed space exploration technology. Prior to the Apollo program nasa was developing space planes, winged rockets, to fly to orbit. That was cancelled to focus on the expensive apollo program. Then they quickly put together the space shuttle program in an effort to save money. Both were a waste of time and resources.

[christo930]

NASA just represents the will of the president and congress (and the people indirectly). They say do this. And NASA says ok, it will cost X amount of dollars, they get paid and they do it.

 

I'm fairly certain that manned exploration was curtailed because of the cost of the technology. It cost something like 600 million - 1 billion to launch a shuttle? Not exactly hopping into a Colonial Viper for a trip down to some planet. That's what a kid's idea of space exploration was in the 60's or 70's. Buck Rogers, Battlestar Galactica, Star Wars..

 

I even wrote into NASA asking if they had turbos and lasers on the space shuttle! They wrote back and included some pamphlets and diagrams. I looked it over and got bored with the idea of becoming an astronaut. If there were no space battles I wasn't interested.

 

And I don't believe people should be going into space until we have better tech and materials.

 

---

 

I remember being obsessed with space colonies however.. They seemed like they could be real. And that we just, had, to, do, it!! I dreamed I could sit inside one, play with my VCS, and watch the stars and planets with my telescope.

What happened with NASA is it became a government bureaucracy, it really could not have turned out any other way. It's now just a giant gibs program which wastes enormous sums of money doing useless stuff. They can't even design a proper mission because each technology they are working on (for whatever reason) has to be shoehorned into the project somehow. I seriously doubt NASA will ever do anything great again.

[Omega-TI]

What happened with NASA is it became a government bureaucracy, it really could not have turned out any other way. It's now just a giant gibs program which wastes enormous sums of money doing useless stuff. They can't even design a proper mission because each technology they are working on (for whatever reason) has to be shoehorned into the project somehow. I seriously doubt NASA will ever do anything great again.

 

Fortunately there is the free market with companies like SpaceX, Bigelow Aerospace, Ad Astra Rocket Company and others. Any one company may not be all that much of a big deal, but all taken together, with each filling a niche, the sky is no longer the limit.

[kiwilove]

Some people do feel that NASA was created specifically to hide (deny) information from the general public - rather than to release it.

If you heard any of the testimonies collected by Dr Steven Greer in his Disclosure Project material. That Moon photographs get to be airbrushed before being released to the public.

 

Some of the points raised - about the Apollo landings being faked has some validity to it. Like the claim that the Hasselblad cameras used - were simply conventional cameras with oversized controls - so that they can be operated via gloves. There were no special housings (surround) for them to function in the extreme temperatures - nor to guard the film against cosmic ray exposure. And the comment made - that the backgrounds in the Apollo photographs - appear to be same - no matter where they went?

These particular points were not taken note of - nor examined - in Mythbusters programme on this subject.

Richard Hoagland - a former NASA advisor - at his Enterprise Mission site - is all about questioning NASA - using NASA photographs as evidence.

 

There are others who say the same - that not only are we being uninformed about the Moon - but Mars information is treated in the same manner. I haven't spent a great deal of time looking into this - but rely upon others who have - and take note of their findings.

For those who may shout - conspiracy theory. Well it's more than theory - when specifics are given, and the evidence mounts up.

We have always grown up with conspiracies being 'real' - you have only to look at World Religions to see that they are masters at it.

 

I know this may be considered - way off topic - and not appropriate for this forum/site - and I would expect my post here - to be deleted.

People should not get upset or worked up about this kind of discussion - because we should always question what we are taught/told - because by doing so -

the truth can come out - or let the details be stated - and let people make up their own mind - who to believe and why?

 

It's like the matter of gun control in the US - it gets swept under the carpet - and not talked about. The US Presidents won't get involved (for the most part) - therefore they are not doing their job properly - and that is the will of the general population - what they want?

 

By the way - rocketry is not the means for us to explore the solar system - and beyond. There are other technologies that should be explored and used - but this is kept from the general public - that such technologies - other methods are plausible, possible and should be researched in all universities, etc etc etc.

 

Harvey

Edited June 24, 2018 by kiwilove

[mr_me]

When I was a kid these things at the Ontario Science Centre were awesome. They weren't exactly interactive but my father made me feel that if I didn't flip the switches at the right time we'd crash.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jX_fHpuXx_g