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Space probe to sport 'transforming' hardware

newscientist.com — A test satellite planned for 2012 will sport a flight computer with electronics that can be completely reconfigured in space

Who dugg this? Made popular Jul 22, 2009

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25 Comments

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  • sjbdallas, on 07/22/2009, -0/+17So......it's more than meets the eye?
  • m242, on 07/22/2009, -0/+10You've failed me for the last time, Starscream.
  • Arachnivore, on 07/22/2009, -0/+6They put FPGAs in satellites all the time. Why is NS reporting this like it's a new idea?
  • dafragsta, on 07/22/2009, -0/+5It's Mega-Maid! She's gone from suck to blow!
  • palehorse864, on 07/22/2009, -0/+4If it were generic it wouldn't be witty.
  • hellengineer, on 07/21/2009, -0/+3about time.
  • inactive, on 07/22/2009, -0/+3Decepticon!
  • BaphClass, on 07/22/2009, -0/+3Stupid sensationalist title, interesting article.
  • spriggig, on 07/22/2009, -0/+3Skynet comment.
  • amolkold, on 07/22/2009, -0/+3I'd space probe Megan Fox.
  • Dregganaut, on 07/22/2009, -0/+2LOL, I was going to say the same thing.
    FPGA's. Yeah, how incredibly new.
  • Altair27, on 07/22/2009, -1/+3But can it reconfigure into a SEMI TRUCK!?
  • jhonrock, on 07/23/2009, -0/+2faster.
  • feistyfish, on 07/22/2009, -0/+1will it be able to roll out?
  • yifanlu94, on 07/22/2009, -0/+1So first the technology that puts ads on the moon, now transformers. Interesting trend... what will they come up next?
  • ZeroCubed, on 07/22/2009, -0/+1But what OS will it roll on?
  • Khast, on 07/22/2009, -0/+1Will only be space junk until Alpha-Trion gives it the Spark. Then, it will deem the Earth as a bountiful source of energon cubes. It will call for reinforcements... just wait, Megatron will be pleased...until Starscream finds a way to ***** it up.
  • insanebrain, on 07/22/2009, -0/+1I can fully reconfigure my pc too in space.. .. so what's up ?
  • rocke86, on 07/22/2009, -2/+3***Generic witty comment linking the article to the Transformers series***
  • mugicha, on 07/22/2009, -0/+1I don't see where anyone said that rad hard FPGAs are the same as commercial grade FPGAs. Also, putting rad hard FPGAs in space is not new.
  • adamwho, on 07/22/2009, -0/+1You may not know this but nearly every single satellite since the mid-80s has had reconfigurable hardware. There is a huge amount of redundancy and switching which allows whole new areas of the on-board-computers to be used differently.

    It might surprise you that most satellite operating systems are tiny... 96k tiny.
  • dailyhaste, on 07/22/2009, -0/+1Autobot!
  • fragMasterFlash, on 07/22/2009, -1/+1Rad hardened FPGAs are not at all the same garden variety components used CE devices. Not by a country mile.
  • Rockyn, on 07/22/2009, -1/+1Don't use the same word 3x's in the same sentence, it bothers me.
  • Arachnivore, on 07/22/2009, -0/+0http://www.fpgajournal.com/articles_2007/20070626_ ...

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