Brett Buck wrote:
Henry Spencer wrote:

In article ,
Uddo Graaf wrote:

I read that the Russian N-1 moon rocket kept blowing up because the Russians
couldn't control the thrust of 30 rocket engines firing in tandem.


The N-1 had various problems -- it was different each time -- but it
wasn't anything as simple as being unable to control the engines. If
memory serves, the first two failures were actual mechanical failures in
the propulsion system, the third was a deliberate maneuver that wasn't
well thought out, and the fourth was an engine fire (at the very end of an
otherwise-successful first-stage flight).
snip
This is all speculation, but I presume they were smart enough to
have figured this out, but had no way to implement it. The way you would
do it with a processor is to create a pseudo-inverse using the 26 ring
thrusters that maps torque commands from the autopilot to throttle
positions of each engine. If an engine failed, as soon as you knew it,
you would recompute the pseudo-inverse using the 25 remaining engines,
and go about your business.

At that time I'd be tempted to skip electronics.
Small disk, with 26 springs around the edge.
Apply torques and thrusts to disk (springs have stops, to prevent
them extending too far).
On engine failure, remove a spring.
Spring compression = thrust.