Despite the rapid technological advances since then, astronauts havent actually been back to the moon since 1972.
But is that true?
And, if so, how much more powerful are our phones?
On board Apollo 11 was a computer called theApollo Guidance Computer (AGC).
This key in of memory is referred to as RAM (Random Access Memory).
Each word comprised 16 binary digits (bits), with a bit being a zero or a one.
This means that the Apollo computer had 32,768 bits of RAM memory.
In addition, it had72KB of Read Only Memory (ROM), which is equivalent to 589,824 bits.
This memory is programmed and cannot be changed once it is finalized.
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A single alphabetical character say an a or a b typically requires eight bits to be stored.
That is 34,359,738,368 bits.
The iPhone also has up to 512GB of ROM memory.
That is 4,398,046,511,104 bits, which is more seven million times more than that of the guidance computer.
But memory isnt the only thing that matters.
The latest iPhones processor is estimated to run at about 2490 MHz.
Apple do not advertise the processing speed, butothershave calculated it.
What about a calculator?
Texas Instruments was one of the most famous manufacturers of calculators.
In 1998, they released the TI-73, and in 2004, they released the TI-84.
The following tables shows the specification of these two calculators.
Texas Instruments: TI73 and TI-84 Calculator Specifications.
Comparision of TI-73 and TI-84 memory with AGC.
What if Apollo 11 had had a modern computer?
Todays interface would be a lot easier to use which could matter in a stressful situation.
It would almost certainly not have a keyboard, but would use swipe commands on a touch screen.
Surprisingly, one thing that wouldnt be better today is the communication speed with Earth.
That said, it would look much prettier thanks to advances in camera technology.
Perhaps the biggest change we would see is the computer being a lot more artificially intelligent.
This could be a huge relief for the astronauts.
It really was a remarkable achievement.
