Cores in space: The core memory module from a 1980 Spacelab computer

Spacelab, a reusable European laboratory carried in the Space Shuttle's cargo bay, used a French-built Mitra 125 MS minicomputer equipped with 128 kilobytes of magnetic core memory rather than silicon-based RAM. The core memory system, which stored each bit in tiny ferrite rings, occupied roughly a third of the computer and was mounted on seven interconnected circuit boards that attached to the computer's side panel for cooling. The three identical Mitra computers aboard Spacelab managed the laboratory operations, experiments, and provided backup redundancy during missions in the 1980s.