intel
A mazing I ntel F acts 1. The 4004 microprocessor provided computing power for the Pioneer 10 spacecraft, launched on March 2, 1972. The Pioneer 10 was the first spacecraft to enter the Asteroid Belt. It obtained the first close-up images of Jupiter, charted Jupiter's intense radiation belts, located the planet's magnetic field, and revealed that Jupiter is predominantly a liquid planet. Pioneer 10 is still exploring the outer regions of the solar system, studying energy particles from the sun and cosmic rays entering the Earth's portion of the Milky Way. 2. In 1969, Busicom, a Japanese calculator manufacturer, asked Intel to design a set of chips for a line of high-performance programmable calculators. Busicom's original design required several chips, which Intel engineer Marcian E. (Ted) Hoff considered too complex to be cost effective. Also, Intel's small MOS staff was fully occupied with the 1101 memory chip, so design resources weren't available. Instead...