Large Tektronix Type 532 oscilloscope used for testing at the MIT Instrumentation Lab during Apollo and on the F-8 digital fly-by-wire project, serial no. 007012, measuring 13˝ x 16.5˝ x 22˝, bearing an affixed CSL-MIT-DL calibration label dated 1973. Complete with a Tektronix Type 500 'Scope-Mobile' rolling cart, with two instruction manuals held within its drawer.
The oscilloscope originates from the collection of Don Eyles, a computer engineer with the MIT Instrumentation Laboratory (now known as Draper Laboratory) who helped to program the Apollo Guidance Computer. As part of his work, he advised flight controllers in Mission Control on the operation of spacecraft computer systems and helped to devise routines for responses to computer error codes. When the abort switch unexpectedly jammed on Apollo 14, Eyles was tasked with writing a new program on the fly rendering the faulty 'abort' request invisible to the computer. His lightning-fast analytical skills enabled the crew to land as planned, with Eyles completing the task a mere ten minutes before the lunar module was scheduled to descend. After the Apollo 13 disaster prevented a landing, Eyles was considered a hero for saving the follow-up mission, even gaining celebrity status: Rolling Stone wrote an article about him in March 1971.
