[ale] [OT] Mars Lander!

[JD]

Wikipedia says that the rover runs: "VxWorks (multitasking)"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_embedded_computer_systems_on_board_the_Mars_rovers#Performance_comparisons

The CPU is a radiation hardened PowerPC https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAD750 .
I saw a bunch of MacBooks in the control room last night. I couldn't make out
what OS the built-in workstations were running, but they appeared to be some
sort of UNIX.

Real-time OSes are different from desktop or server OSes.  A late answer is a
wrong/bad answer.  When I was programming spacecraft avionics, I would have
loved to have one of those PPC processors and a modern OS.

I couldn't find any current information about in 20 minutes of searching online
and reading about the OS running on the workstations and servers used at JPL
Space Flight Operations Facility. Most of what I found was historical from
before the 1990s.


On 08/06/2012 10:52 AM, Jim Kinney wrote:
> TOTALLY AWESOME!!!!!
> 
> 
> 
> On Mon, Aug 6, 2012 at 10:43 AM, Derek Atkins <derek at ihtfp.com> wrote:
>> I can go ask one of my buddies who helped build it....
>>
>> -derek
>>
>> Sent from my HTC smartphone
>>
>>
>> ----- Reply message -----
>> From: "Jim Kinney" <jim.kinney at gmail.com>
>> To: "Atlanta Linux Enthusiasts - Yes! We run Linux!" <ale at ale.org>
>> Subject: [ale] [OT] Mars Lander!
>> Date: Mon, Aug 6, 2012 10:32 AM
>>
>>
>> Once again, America has enforced it's view of all things our way by
>> depositing an SUV on Mars as a harbinger of the impending urban sprawl
>> on Earth.
>>
>> I was up late at GaTech for the landing party and got so see this live
>> (well, with a 7 minute delay from Mars and an apparent 2 minute delay
>> from NASA).
>>
>> 7 minutes of terror was an apt name for the decent.
>>
>> Need to find out how much Linux there was involved in this thing.
>>