Fifty Years Ago .... from the pages of Computer Weekly

1st August 1974 computing, compiled by TNMOC volunteer archivist, Brian Aldous.

A selection of stories from Computer Weekly from 1st August 1974. The full archive of Computer Weekly can be seen at TNMOC, where there are special rolling displays of front pages from 25 and 40 years ago.

Saab-Scania units for Ariane rocket: Under an ESRO contract worth between £600,000 and £1million, the Aerospace Division of Saab-Scania is to supply nine special purpose computers for the Ariane rocket, a 200-ton three-stage launch vehicle, which is the biggest ESRO project so far. Ariane has been developed by a consortium headed by CNES, the French national space agency, with the aim of producing a European launcher to put up geostationary telecommunications and research satellites in the 1980s. The computers are Saab OBC/AR modular space machines designed for ultra-high reliability. They will be installed on board the rockets to control manoeuvres in flight such as attitude, direction, inclination and height. Designed for high reliability, the OBC/AR was developed under an earlier ESRO contract placed in 1972. It is a compact and robust unit weighing 10 lb and will handle real time and multiprocessing functions. The modules include bus controller, processor, direct memory access and interface buffer. (CW 404 1/8/1974 p1)