APOLLO, A TRANSITION IN THE ART OF PILOTING A VEHICLE

James L. Nevins

Peer Reviewed

Abstract:	Apollo can be considered a transition in the art of piloting a vehicle, where the principal dimensions are (a) Flight Operations, (b) the Flight Crew's Role, and (c) the man-machine communications. The transitional aspects are the level adn the nature of integration of the aircrews and ground controllers for flight operations. For the crews, the aspects are (1) the spectrum, or range of levels, of the general tasks and the necessity for certain tasks, (2) the nature adn the requirements of the supervisory role. For the man-machine communications, the significant items are the levels and the nature of interaction of the crew with their equipment, from direct actuation of effectors to a first level of functional communications. Consider, for example, the primary guidance, navigation, and control system designed for the Apollo vehicles. The system was designed to provide the crew with a complete onboard flight-management systems that would enable them to navigate and guide their spacecraft wtihout ground assistance. As such, Apollo is the first manned U.S. spacecraft to contain enough sensors and data processing capability to do the job.
Published in:	NAVIGATION: Journal of the Institute of Navigation, Volume 18, Number 3
Pages:	261 - 280
Cite this article:	Nevins, James L., "APOLLO, A TRANSITION IN THE ART OF PILOTING A VEHICLE", NAVIGATION: Journal of The Institute of Navigation, Vol. 18, No. 3, Fall 1971, pp. 261-280.
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