In 1971 IBM delivered a working 52-bit magnetic bubble memory chip to NASA as part of a contract investigating replacements for space-borne tape recorders. The photos on this page show some of the hardware details. Click here to view the paper, or here to watch a brief movie clip of the chip in action. (Turn the sound on).

Click the image to see the chip in action.
After 7 seconds, 3 bubbles are written into the storage loop. (Movie is rotated 180 degrees relative to the diagram.)

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