“Computerworld – Forty years after astronauts on NASA’s Apollo 11 spacecraft first landed on the moon, many experts say the historic event altered the course of space exploration as well man’s view of itself in the universe.

“The Apollo missions also had another major affect on the world — rapidly accelerating the pace of technology development. The work of NASA engineers at the time caused a dramatic shift in electronics and computing systems, scientists say.

“Without the research and development that went into those space missions, top companies like Intel Corp. may not have been founded, and the population likely wouldn’t be spending a big chunk of work and free time using laptops and Blackberries to post information on Facebook or Twitter.

“During the mid- to late-1960s, when Apollo was being designed and built, there was significant advancement,” said Scott Hubbard, who worked at NASA for 20 years before joining the faculty at Stanford University, where he is a professor in the aeronautics and astronautics department. “Power consumption. Mass. Volume. Data rate. All the things that were important to making space flight feasible led to major changes in technology. A little told story is how much NASA, from the Cold War up through the late ’80s or early ’90s affected technology.”

http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9135690/NASA_s_Apollo_technology_has_changed_history