ELi5: What is gimbal lock and why is it bad? (Been watching Apollo 13)
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Mechanical gyroscopes (such as the one found in the Inertial Measurement Unit of the Apollo guidance computer) consist of three gimbals (x, y and z).
Gimbal lock occurs when two of these end up in the same plane (ie parallel to one another). When this occurs, you can only now measure in two axes, rather than three. Not great when you’re trying to navigate round the 3-D void of space with few landmarks to give you an accurate position fix.
It used to be an issue in fighter aircraft too, before the introduction of laser ring gyros, as extreme nose up or nose down attitudes could cause it.
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