Recreating History using Modern Technology

The space race of the 1960’s was full of individual stories, tense rivalry, and forced innovation between Russia and the United States in this new kind of Cold War. It was a fight of wits and staring contest of risk as these two superpower nations pushed machines and humans to all-new goalposts… leaving the atmosphere and pushing into space.

Two men in suits and ties face each other and seem to be having a serious conversation in front of an American flag and curtained windows.

A commonly quoted fact is that there were less than 66 years between the first flight of the Wright Flyer in 1903, and the first moon landing in 1969. But a fact that I think is much more impactful: Sputnik I, the first manmade object to orbit the earth, was launched in 1957. in just 12 years, humanity went from an orbiting ball of metal that beeps, to routine moon landings with incredibly advanced technologies, computers, engines, life support, and navigation… Many of which helped create the foundation for how space travel is carried out to this day.

A rocket launches into the sky on the left, with a man in a blue jumpsuit standing on a boat at sunset on the right, smiling and adjusting his cap.

A man working with a large, reflective spherical object in a dark environment, possibly a laboratory or scientific setting.

Technological leaps like the Apollo Guidance Computer, reignitable rocket motors, long range radar tracking and spacesuits were some of the many massive advancements in humanities’ understanding of technology and exploration that the moon missions laid foundations for. The integrated circuit was first used in the Apollo guidance computer, and is now present in every electronic device we build. Celestial navigation and ground tracking radar, refined over those 9 cislunar flights of Apollo, is still used for the Artemis program that continues to push humanity out to the moon and beyond.

Overview of a space mission control room with multiple workstations equipped with monitors, control panels, and paperwork, with large screens displaying graphics and data on the wall.

A parking lot and a large satellite dish with an American flag, trees, and a building in the background.

Close-up of a vintage electronic component with gold-colored pins and a black rectangular base, mounted on a blue surface with parallel gold connectors.

A display of woven magnetic cores shaped like doughnuts, arranged in five rows on a red background, with a piece of printed informational text about building a compact computer from magnetic cores.

My projects aim to respect and educate on these technologies by putting the evolution into your hands. Using public NASA archives, incredible open source projects like Virtual AGC, and single board computing and microcontrollers, I’m designing and recreating the pivotal tools that brought us to the moon those many years ago. Whether you’re someone who wants to fly the LM using the real hand controllers… touching down as those men did many years ago… or you want to command the CSM autopilot to orient you for the burn using real, tactile verb and noun command keys, I want you to feel excited to learn about these incredible missions and appreciate how our modern world was shaped by those space programs of pure innovation.

Computer screen displaying 3D design software with a mechanical part and an electronic display attached to it.

Inside a black electronic enclosure with a circuit board, black heatsink with a fan, wires, relays, and other electronic components.

A workbench with various electronic components, tools, wires, circuit boards, and disassembled electronic devices, including a partially opened device revealing internal hardware.

A workbench cluttered with tools and electronic components, including a white desk lamp, a soldering iron, metal frames, a spool of wire, and various screwdrivers and small parts, with cardboard boxes and a wooden shelf in the background.

To join my project, please feel free to come by the Discord or visit me on Reddit. Visit my Recreate DSKY page to learn more about the DSKY project I am Kickstarting in the coming months, or visit my GitHub to get started on making your own.