catflap.org Online Dictionary Query

  IBM 7090
       
           A transistorised version of the IBM 709 which was
          a very popular high end computer in the early 1960s.  The 7090
          had 32Kbytes of 36-bit core memory and a hardware floating
          point unit.  Fortran was its most popular language, but it
          supported many others.  It was later upgraded to the IBM
          7094, and a scaled down version, the IBM 7040 was also
          introduced.
       
          IBM 7090s controlled the Mercury and Gemini space flights, the
          Balistic Missile Early Warning System (until well into the
          1980s), and the CTSS time sharing system at MIT.
       
          The 7090 was not good at unit record I/O, so in small
          configurations an IBM 1401 was used for SPOOL I/O and in
          large configurations (such as a 7090/94) a 7040/44 would be
          directly coupled and dedicated to handling printers and card
          readers.  (See the film Dr Strangelove).
       
          (1999-01-19)