[ale] [OT] Mars Lander!

[arxaaron]

On 2012/08/06, at 15:55 , Derek Atkins wrote:
> JD <jdp at algoloma.com> writes:
>> 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.
>
> I've not been at JPLs control room, only the launch control room at  
> KSC
> in Florida.  When I was at KSC the workstations were all Suns.  But  
> it's
> possibly they have switched them out to something else in the past
> decade since I was there.

Just had to throw in that there are lots of  "control rooms" around the
various NASA facilities and a number of them were running on Amigas.
 From <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amiga>:

"Amigas were used in various NASA laboratories to keep track
of multiple low orbiting satellites, and were still used up to 2003/2004
(dismissed and sold in 2006). This is another example of long lifetime
reliability of Amiga hardware, as well as professional use. Amigas
were also used at Kennedy Space Center to run strip-chart recorders,
\to format and display data, and control stations of platforms for Delta
rocket launches."

CERN was an example of another major science facility that found
the unique capabilities of the Amiga invaluable.

:-)

in peace,
aaron