The Apollo lunar module's Primary Guidance and Navigation Section (PGNS) was the first digital autopilot used in a manned spacecraft.
Notes on verification
Confirmed by NASA technical documentation, MIT historical research (Mindell's 'Digital Apollo'), and interviews with engineers who worked on the system. Multiple independent sources corroborate the claim, and potential counterexamples (like the analog LLRV) don't contradict the specific 'digital' distinction. [tier=gold indep_score=0.87 clusters=5 claim_tier=notable]
Sources
- The First True Spaceship (seed:science_and_space)
- https://www.astronomy.com/space-exploration/building-apollo/ (corroboration)
- https://www.mathworks.com/company/technical-articles/the-apollo-11-moon-landing-spacecraft-design-then-and-now.html (corroboration)
- https://wehackthemoon.com/people/bill-widnall-computer-science (corroboration)
- https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/19780015068/downloads/19780015068.pdf (corroboration)
- https://news.mit.edu/2019/behind-scenes-apollo-mission-0718 (corroboration)