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Surely you’ve heard that your smartphone has more computing power than the computers that sent the Apollo mission to the Moon. Well, a full 55 years after the spaceflight that landed Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the lunar surface, a company has managed to shrink down the Apollo computer in another way. British startup Apollo Instruments created a wristwatch that replicates the Apollo Guidance Computer.
The DSKY (short for “Display and Keyboard”) Moonwatch, shares the same interface as the briefcase-sized computers that were on board the Apollo program modules. The creators involved in the project tapped the original design specs from the MIT Instrumentation Laboratory to shrink down the panel and create a wearable replica.
The original AGCs were used by astronauts for guidance and navigation, which you cannot do with the watch—and no offense, but you probably don’t have a spacecraft anyway. But it does function in its own way. The watch has a built-in GPS, a digital display, and a working keyboard. It’s also programmable, built atop an open-source framework that is compatible with a number of coding environments including Arduino and Python. So if you have some features you’d like to run, it’s open to input.
The watch also has an 8-channel digital I/O port, which opens up the possibility of using the watch to control or interact with “breadboard interfaces, development enclosures, and robotic device,” per Apollo Instruments’ product description. The company said it will push out software updates in the future and work with community contributions, so if someone else comes up with a cool feature, you should be able to install it on your own device.
Ultimately, the DSKY Moonwatch is a novelty. And priced at £649 (about $812), it’s not exactly a cheap one. But it at least brings a fun interface and the potential to expand functionality in unique ways. Sure, it’s not going to bring you all of the features of your standard smartwatch, and it’s not going to turn heads for the same reasons as a pricey timepiece. But at a minimum, it’s probably the only cool calculator watch and a decent conversation starter. So that’s something.
The DSKY Moonwatch can be pre-ordered from Apollo Instruments with a £240 ($300) deposit. The company says it expects to start shipping the final product in the first quarter of 2025. And, just for your own safety, familiarize yourself with the potential risks of contributing to crowdfunding campaigns before jumping in.
