Core Memory 

How does memory work?

Who do we name and remember in the Space Race? 

Woman’s work was central to the Apollo Mission, from engineers, mathematicians and developers to those who worked to fabricate the integrated circuits and core memory boards that allowed us to get to the moon. The precision of their skilled, technical labor ensured the computer software worked, the mission was successful and the lives of the astronauts were safe.

Magnetic core memory was used to program the guidance system of the Apollo Mission.  The  “donuts” were made of ferrite, a material that can hold a magnetic field in either of two directions, thus representing "1" or "0". The wires through the cores allowed the computer to set or read the magnetic direction.

Core memory itself is often confused with core rope memory, or rope memory, which unlike core memory, core rope stored an incredible 192 bits per core.  It is distinguished by large bundles of core wires. The computer programmer leads were known as Rope Mothers, an honorific that was mostly bestowed upon men, with the notable exception of Margaret Hamilton, who was the lead computer programmer of the Apollo Mission.