50 Comments
- KevinJim, on 10/11/2007, -8/+38They should run vista. I Love fireworks !
- Dumbledorito, on 10/11/2007, -3/+17I thought Russian computers rebooted by having the crazy cosmonaut whack every machine in site with a wrench.
- brockpetrie, on 10/11/2007, -1/+15Components. American components, Russian Components, ALL MADE IN TAIWAN!
- MikeonTV, on 10/11/2007, -3/+17THIS JUST IN: Aliens have contacted the Space station and welcome a new intelligent life
- moocow1452, on 10/11/2007, -4/+13Forgive me diggers, but it's about time for....
LINUX. IN. SPPPAAAAACCCCCE!!!!!! - Seidoger, on 10/11/2007, -2/+9If I recall, all Canadian systems (such as Canadarm2 / Mobile Servicing System and its Advanced Space Vision System) aboard the ISS using linux-based software.
- danielwsmithee, on 10/11/2007, -1/+7The electronics are either radiation hardened or radiation tolerant (if they are only tolerant they usually require additional redundancies). In this case since it is using a PowerPC which is pretty much the standard for in space computers I would assume it is RadHard.
- Cmain, on 10/11/2007, -0/+5Now Microsoft can try to sue NASA. YAY!
- Seidoger, on 10/11/2007, -1/+5Ok.. some people need to take their Digg Down Chill Pill. They will probably prove me right with what they'll do with this post.
Some interesting and true facts here. I dunno what is wrong with some of you people. - seanmc303, on 10/11/2007, -1/+5If I were an astronaut, and I found out they were running Vista, I would soil my space suit.
- deviceguru, on 10/11/2007, -3/+6Not so! The application requires a software platform that is robust and reliable -- how many "any OSes" do you know of that can possibly be open to inspection by so many eyes?
- tehkain, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2Security does not work like that. Just because a system is known it does not make it easily broken in the unix world. Also the real time system they used before was not with out its public documentation. If you think Linux is an easy crack then maybe you should look into how many hackers have infected/broke the security of the worlds foremost corporate systems that run linux? None.
- GnuTzu, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2In an attempt to avoid making another fan-boy comment, I did a Google search for: top "real-time" "operating system" vendors.
The first result ( http://www.netrino.com/Articles/RTOSes/index.php ) provided a list of notable RTOS products (with vendors in parenthesis).
* AMX (KADAK)
* C Executive (JMI Software)
* RTX (CMX Systems)
* eCos (Red Hat)
* INTEGRITY (Green Hills Software)
* LynxOS (LynuxWorks)
* µC/OS-II (Micrium)
* Neutrino (QNX Software Systems)
* Nucleus (Mentor Graphics)
* RTOS-32 (OnTime Software)
* OS-9 (Microware)
* OSE (OSE Systems)
* pSOSystem (Wind River)
* QNX (QNX Software Systems)
* Quadros (RTXC)
* RTEMS (OAR)
* ThreadX (Express Logic)
* Linux/RT (TimeSys)
* VRTX (Mentor Graphics)
* VxWorks (Wind River)
These aren't exactly names that show up in the popular media (with the exception of Red Hat), and you'd probably be hard pressed to install one as a desktop OS. So, except for the purpose of making a few jokes (and there are plenty of silly comments with this post), there isn't much point in comparing these things to any desktop OS.
So, aside from the association that a number of RTOS products have to Linux (as well as others), there really isn't much here about your favorite desktop OS. So, while the fan-boy humor is worth a good chuckle, none of it should be taken too seriously. - tehkain, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2The rover used VxWorks, I believe that went well, and that is a wind river product so I am sure they have made a good choice.
- cuoops, on 10/11/2007, -1/+2This is a test to see how they can use off the shelf hardware and software that scientists can use for experiments in space. This is for the scientist's benefit. NASA has their own software for their equipment. I know a guy who works on the programs. Infact, he wrote a program for a video/chat website in 3 days for friend of mine. On his spare time.
- nufoto, on 10/11/2007, -1/+2dugg for PowerPC
- nytel, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Good maybe they will disclose ETI already
- michael0010, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1They're only starting to do this now?!
- Spr0k3t, on 10/11/2007, -2/+3Don't forget the metric system.
- zhulien, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1perhaps they are still using AmigaOS? http://www.upchug.com/HalInterview-eng.html
- MoonPoint, on 10/11/2007, -0/+0Many NASA projects use Linux. Many NASA projects use Windows. Linux systems on the ground have been an integral part of NASA's ground network for more than a decade when they were deployed as part of NASA's transition of that network from NASA's own network protocol to TCP/IP.
- gumpreza, on 10/11/2007, -0/+0UNIX ruined the Mars Global Surveyor, so NASA looks to the future with LINUX!! BRILLIANT!!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Global_Surveyor#Loss_of_Contact - tranzmatt, on 10/11/2007, -1/+1From what the article said, they're tailoring Wind River's PNE-LE package. I looked it up and PNE is Wind River's carrier grade linux product. Heh, they're essentially launching an enterprise cluster into orbit...
- gthrank, on 10/11/2007, -2/+2I should darn well hope the space program runs Linux. What are they gonna do otherwise, use Windows? (how many more space tragedies do we need?) Write it themselves and spend billions getting it stable, only to find it needs to be rewritten for the next space program? Geez.
- bincoder, on 10/11/2007, -0/+0Sorry but I respectfully disagree that no linux system anywhere on earth
has been broken into. There are trojans viri and such that affect linux just as
in windoze. Security does work like that.
Also when an OS is being used that few peeps have any information about,
it follows that you may hack yourself into the next century, without success.
If a hacker doesn't know the commands, he can sit right there in NASAs office
typing away, and nothing will happen. Unless he wants to assemble random
letters and digits for the next billion years to find out the language. lol - MisterNetHead, on 10/11/2007, -0/+0Now that's just cool. Props to NASA. And Linux.
- krewemaynard, on 10/11/2007, -5/+5With more work being done on real time Linux, this could become a reality for all kinds of critical systems. I'll be interested to see what distro they choose as a base.
- mydave, on 08/12/2008, -0/+0oh nice. Good work.
http://www.sooslic.com
http://search.ashtech.info/security - audiowizard, on 10/11/2007, -1/+1NASA will probably manage their installations of Linux just fine.
So long as they aren't sending apes into space anymore. Or barbarians for that matter.
http://digg.com/linux_unix/Barbarian_demo_s_Ubuntu_7_04_demolishes_computer_with_10lbs_hammer - tranzmatt, on 10/11/2007, -0/+0From what they're saying, they're trying to use COTS (aka, non hardened) hardware and see if software solutions can deal with errors caused by cosmic rays. The 7447A in the Extreme board has an on-chip Altivec, I'd be really surprised if that thing's hardened.
- danielwsmithee, on 10/11/2007, -3/+2Linux is used for lots of applications similar to this. However it has not made a huge dent in the market the Windriver owns with VxWorks. Even with the real-time patches to Linux it is just not yet hard-real time enough for these applications.
- Lane, on 10/11/2007, -2/+1makes sense, most of the computers NASA seems to like to send into space are some completely outdated 8mzh processor that would do for even my phone.
- inactive, on 10/11/2007, -2/+1Joy. Just what everyone needs. Package dependencies. "Your solar panels don't appear to have the proper drivers. Please install all dependent packages from the command line. Your spacegloves are too fat to type. Please scour the web for 7 hours to try and find out what's wrong."
- straxus, on 10/11/2007, -5/+3Seeing as masturbation is self-gratification, I think your post better qualifies for the analogy.
- bincoder, on 10/11/2007, -2/+0What happened to the OS they normally use?
Read it's so complex, no one person knows how it works.
But is supposed to be extremely stable and failsafe.
They should stay with it imo, no need for 99.9999% of the
worlds population of hackers to be able to take control or otherwise
break the system. - ilobmirt, on 10/11/2007, -2/+0They could use Linux from scratch to create their own distro. That must be a logical choice.
- ilobmirt, on 10/11/2007, -4/+1They should wait to install vista on the fourth of july.
Then it will be patriotic. - cepher, on 10/11/2007, -5/+2First of all, Mike Sufferdini (The way it should be spelled) is only a PR guy that doesn't know anything but what the engineers tell him. Don't quote him because those aren't his words...
//Grew up in (Houston) NASA community, with both parents working there.
Also, its the Boeing/Jacobs guys who'd be fixing it. They are the ones who keep on sending firmware flashes up there. - diggrj, on 10/11/2007, -4/+1chances that the tagline "ubuntu - linux for HUMAN beings" wont hold for long :))
- Gauthic, on 07/09/2008, -5/+2I see lots of temperature and physical shock specs, but how does this mother handle a nice solar storm?
Is it hardened against EMP? Either way it's a step in the right direction! - nutsackninja, on 10/11/2007, -9/+6NASA: "Need to change the sensitivity setting for the control software"
Astronaut: "Does that mean I have to recompile the kernel?"
NASA: "Yes"
Astronaut: "Ok what package do I have to apt-get?"
NASA: "CONTROL_SOFTWARE1.23.4, but first you need to get the latest distro, but before that you need to apt-get 100 other stupid packages before the update"
Astronaut: "We should have stuck with Windows" - Dumbledorito, on 10/11/2007, -6/+2That's one of Linux's strengths: Being able to tailor it to specialized tasks and stripping out superfluous code and/or apps.
But if you get stranded in space, you'll be sorry when you can't play Solitaire or Minesweeper to pass the time as your oxygen depletes. :) - schestowitz, on 10/11/2007, -10/+6Yesterday in the news:
"Only one working computer is needed to command jet firings, but despite repeated attempts to re-boot, none of the trio has come back to life. According to Suffredini, the station has never lost all three computers for any length of time before. If you recall, the computers crashed before the installation of the S3S4 truss segment."
http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_space_thewritestuff/2007/06/computer_proble.html
Look at the comments. - duz2600, on 10/11/2007, -7/+2Faulty POWER switch. Has nothing to do with the computers, the OSes, or wrenches!
Just a bad piece of electrical hardware.
Please make the world safe for your children, and use only Free, Open Source, Software.
Recommend http://livecdlist.com for 315 initial choices that include games, suites... - stargatesteve, on 10/11/2007, -6/+1It looks kinda like the Enterprise...
(at least from the pics) - Error601, on 10/11/2007, -8/+2Who gives a crap about the linux part. The interesting part is the application. Any OS will do to run it.
- hackershandbook, on 10/11/2007, -11/+4Houston - we seem to have a problem here - our computer says nothing but "You've Been Owned"
- audiowizard, on 10/11/2007, -11/+2What's the fascination with a free OS? Should everything be free? Will programmers barter their work for food and shelter? wtf?
- jevb007, on 10/11/2007, -19/+5Ooh, Linux! Ooh, ooh, ooh...ahhh.
That was your average Digg user jerking off to the word "Linux"


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