Silicon Valley
fromTheregister
2 hours agoYouTuber lands on Moon using a ZX Spectrum. Conditions apply
A ZX Spectrum can control a lunar lander simulation, demonstrating that creativity can overcome technological limitations.
It plugs into your TV set and lets you play a wide variety of classic 1980s videogames - or, if you prefer, drop down to a BASIC interpreter and explore coding. It's exactly the same size and shape as an original Sinclair Research ZX Spectrum - to the extent that you can place Spectrum keyboard overlays over its squishy "dead flesh" type keyboard, for instance to help you remember the controls to a complex game such as Lords of Midnight by the late Mike Singleton.
The twin robotic spacecraft launched in 1977, the same year as the Apple II, the TRS-80 and the Commodore Pet, making the spacecraft the patron saints of the modern computer age. By the time Voyager's primary mission ended with Voyager 2's 1989 Neptune encounter, earthlings had the 80486, the Gameboy and the Apple Macintosh Portable. As Voyager 2 was nearly three billion miles (4.7 billion kilometers) away at that point, however, hardware upgrades were ruled out by the cost of delivery.