Apollo 11 was hurtling toward the moon, preparing for the first lunar landing in history. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were staring at the screen of their on-board computer, which showed an error code: 1202.
Neither Armstrong nor Aldrin knew what the error code meant.
Nor did the controllers in Houston. They searched frantically through their notes.
The astronauts had a manual, but there was a problem with that. “We couldn’t look it up in the book to see what the problem was ’cause we were watching where we were going!” Aldrin explained, according to Space.com.
You may never have been an astronaut, never worried about a moon landing, but chances are good that you know the feeling being described here.
We often get calls from people who have a machine throwing sparks and making weird coughing noises. They’ve seen words like “Rexroth” or “Indramat” on some device and it’s showing an error message.
They don’t know what the message means. Most of the engineers in the facility were not born yet when the component in question was commissioned, and they don’t have the vaguest idea where the manual is.
We can send you a new manual. Just be sure to tell us the part you’re having trouble with. The manual will tell you what the error code means, and the most likely reasons that you’re seeing it. Use our manual request form.
Once you know what you need, we can help you with factory repair or reman and get your line back up and running fast.
What happened in Houston?
Another error code appeared: 1201. By that time, it was too late to do anything but try to land.
The spacecraft was not where it was supposed to be. They were low on fuel. Then the door wouldn’t open. Then ice built up in the fuel line, causing dangerous levels of pressure.
What with one thing and another, the error messages seemed like the least of their problems.
In fact, the ship computer was receiving more data than it could handle. The astronauts took the right action, even if they didn’t know what the error code meant.
Sometimes you can decide you need factory repair or a replacement part without going through the error messages or the trouble shooting process. Maybe you’d rather not wait for a manual. Either way, we can help. Call 479-422-0390 for immediate assistance.