Cards, Launch Vehicle Digital Computer, Saturn V

This is a set of processor cards from an unflown Launch Vehicle Digital Computer. The LVDC was installed above the third stage of the Saturn V, or above the second stage of the Saturn 1B, and was used to guide the rocket from launch into Earth orbit. For missions to the Moon, the computer futher managed the re-start of the Saturn V third stage engine, to take it on a trajectory to the Moon. After that, a computer of a different design, installed on the Command Module, carried out further guidance and navigation functions.

The LVDC was built by the IBM Corporation, for NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center. It used a type of circuit that consisted of transistors and other components mounted on a ceramic substrate.

The U.S. Space and Rocket Center donated this artifact to the Smithsonian in 2008.