34C3 - The Ultimate Apollo Guidance Computer Talk
Why Hacker News recommends it
Repeatedly called the best and most comprehensive AGC talk, with commenters rewatching it and treating it as foundational computer architecture learning.
What it is
Michael Steil and Christian Hessmann's 34C3 talk explaining the Apollo Guidance Computer end to end: hardware design, operating system, and mission software.
Recommended by 9 HN commenters across 7 different months, 2018 to 2025.
What Hacker News said
Strong rec emily-c · 2019-01 · on “Virtual Apollo Guidance Computer”
This is awesome. If you haven't seen this talk about the AGC you should definitely check it out: [this video]
Strong rec mopsi · 2019-07 · on “Apollo 11 Had a Hidden Hero: Software”
This is the best description of AGC I have seen so far, from hardware design to mission software, layer by layer: "The Ultimate Apollo Guidance Computer Talk" [this video]
Strong rec Zanneth · 2019-07 · on “Apollo 11 Had a Hidden Hero: Software”
If anyone wants to learn more about the Apollo Guidance Computer, this talk[1] from 34C3 will teach you everything you wanted to know and more. The AGC had some really fascinating features for the time, including a cooperative multitasking system, interrupt driven IO, and even a virtual machine for doing linear algebra! [1] [this video]
Strong rec shadowofneptune · 2022-08 · on “The Apollo On-Board Computers”
The best presentation I have seen on the AGC architecture: [this video] It does present addresses in hexadecimal, oddly. The computer was 15-bit and used octal in its display panel. I suppose the presenters thought the audience would understand hex better.
Strong rec _jholland · 2024-07 · on “Virtual Apollo Guidance Computer”
For a comprehensive exposition of the technical aspects of the AGC, look no further than the Ultimate Apollo Guidance Computer Talk: [this video] They not only do a brilliant job of exposing this niche system, but it is a foundational lecture for my knowledge of computer architecture in general
Strong rec msarnoff · 2025-04 · on “How MOS 6502 Illegal Opcodes Work (2008)”
Michael’s blog is one of my favorites. His “Ultimate Guide” talks are great and I rewatch them at least once a year. Ultimate Guide to the C64: [LINK] Ultimate Guide to the Game Boy: [LINK] Ultimate Guide to the Apollo Guidance Computer: [this video]
Recommends theclaw · 2018-11 · on “Apollo AGC Restoration Part 1 [video]”
This is amazing to see - completely unpotted AGC! I've been following Curiousmarc's channel for a while and it's great to see this. Anyone interested in AGC stuff might also want to check out this video from the 34th Chaos Communication Congress that exhaustively explains how it works: [this video]
Recommends lhoff · 2019-07 · on “ Software woven into wire: Core rope and the Apollo Guidance Computer”
For anyone interested in the AGC itself I can recommend the "ultimative Apollo guidance computer talk" [this video]