Special Purpose Computer, Magic I Space Guidance Computer
date: label: date made
content: ca 1962
name: label: maker
content: General Motors Corporation
notes: label: Description
content: This was the first of a family of devices for space guidence, and a 1972 gift to the museum from the Delco Electronics Division of General Motors Corporation. According to the accession file, DELCO was an offshoot of the AC Electronics Division of General Motors, which in turn grew out of its AC Spark Plug Division. AC Electronics provided inertial guidance systems for the THOR and TITAN II ballistic missiles, for the TITAN III space booster, and for the APOLLO command modules and lunar modules. The THOR system used an analog computing unit, and the others all used digital computing units purchased by AC. Recognizing the importance of digital techniques to advanced guidance and navigation systems, AC set up a digital computer research and development laboratory in 1959. The first tangible product of this lab was this MAGIC I computer. It has a relatively compact green metal housing (27.8 cm w. x 48 cm. d. x 23.7 cm h.) and contains a serial ferrite core memory designed to function over a wide range of temperatures and to withstand vibration and shock. It has monolithic integrated logic circuits that use components purchased from Fairchild in 1961. There also are welded electronic modules for the non-logic circuits. With this construction, AC Electronics hoped to improve reliability, and lower weight, power consumption, volume, and cost.
label: Description
content: The MAGIC I was the subject of a paper presented at a Spaceborne Computer Engineering Conference in October of 1962 (for a reprint, see 305778.02). This particular MAGIC never flew in space, but was the forerunner of several successful company products
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: California, El Segundo
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Computers
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of General Motors
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: CI.330820
label: accession number
content: 305776
label: catalog number
content: 330820
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Special Purpose Computer