2001: A Space Laptop

Phrogman writes: "SpaceRef has posted an exclusive and detailed article concerning NASA's use of laptops in space including information on the LAN configuration aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis (with full-color diagrams); lists of software run on the Shuttle laptop computers (with screenshots like this); laptop specs; descriptions of the LAN to be installed on the Space Station; and a lot of other related official NASA materials and links." It's a neat primer on Taking Your Computer to Space, too -- it addresses things like the available power sources, the need for velcro, and quirks of operating in zero G.

Comments

Duct Tape In Space!

[John_Prophet]

Quoting from the article:
The PGSC, and everything else inside the Shuttle, needs to be able to be attached to a stable surface to keep it from floating away. Next to duct tape (also known as "gray tape" at NASA), one of the standard means of attaching one thing to another in space is the use of Velcro.

Heh. Duct tape and velcro are holding our space program together? Seems somehow appropriate. Maybe they can swing over to MIR and patch up some of THEIR problems. Apparently, those stupid russians have been using ordinary masking tape.


-The Reverend

I don't want to see the Russki's power supply

[Hairy_Potter]

IBM ThinkPad series PGSCs are not the only laptops that have flown - or will fly in space. Computers using Mac OS and Linux have also flown as part of various payloads and are likely to continue to do so in the future. Meanwhile, the Russians will be using a Weiner Power laptop in their portion of the ISS. Other participating partners will likely bring their own laptops.

All I can envision is wrapping wire around your penis and sticking it in and out of a magnet.

After The Slashdot Cruiser

[Slashdot Cruiser]

I've put a lot of thought into this. Please don't dismiss me right away.

We all recognize the phenomenal success of Slashdot/Andover/VALinux/OSDN/Plymouth/Whoever-the -hell-they-are-this-month. The company has literally gobs of liquid cash to burn. Thanks to the contributions of unpaid open source developers everywhere, expenses are low. Thanks to banner ad hits, hardware sales, and software distribution (or distrobution if you're a regular here), revenue is high.

I think the time has come for Slashdot to think big. I mean bigger than the Slashdot Cruiser. With that in mind, I would like to make a modest proposal:

Paint the Slashdot logo on the Space Shuttle

It could work: Thanks to 8 years of post-Cold War Democratic cutbacks, NASA is hard up for money. Heck, it's a wonder the Shuttle doesn't already look like something out of the NASCAR Winston Cup series.

Why not corporate sponsorship of the Space Shuttle? And who better to provide that sponsorship than the site bringing us "News for Nerds. Stuff that matters?"

Picture it: The Space Shuttle -- painted Slashdot-Green with the /. logo on the vertical stabilizer. We could even paint "This spacecraft Copyright 1997-2000 OSDN" on the side. We could replace all the computers inside the Shuttle with overclocked VALinux boxes. We could supply the crews with /. coffee mugs and Penquin Mints. Missions could be completed in half the time!

We could even go a step further. We could the entire Shuttle fleet! Instead of "Enterprise", "Endeavor", "Columbia", we could have "CmdrTaco", "JonKatz", and "Hemos".

Imagine hearing a newscaster saying, "The Space Shuttle JonKatz lifted off this morning. It will remain in orbit for three weeks." Doesn't that make you feel a little funny inside?

Is the idea of an open-source space program just a dream? Won't you share the dream with me?