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802.11b Space Suits

Saint Aardvark writes "The BBC has an article here about WearSat, the new generation of space suits: embedded RISC processor, 802.11b networking, VGA heads-up display, and 1GB microdrive. I want one for my rec room."

130 comments

  1. encryption by PFactor · · Score: 0, Troll

    better use it or the aliens will have already won!

    --
    Don't believe anything I say. I crash test crack pipes for a living.
  2. fp? by Trinn · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    wow...never thought I'd see this day. not only is it a space-suit of the future, it's a post in a timewarp!

  3. Post This by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    First, post the first post post. First. First post! Not. I doubt it.

  4. Play Doom by Fastball · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    ...be a real space marine! ;)

    1. Re:Play Doom by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm sure this was meant as a joke, but at one point, the Marines actually used a customized version of DOOM as a training simulation!

  5. hack the planet by abnormal · · Score: 3, Funny

    All we have to do now is to increase the signal range on the 802.11b standard, and we'd be able to hack those astronauts from Earth =)

    1. Re:hack the planet by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You could do it with an antenna/dish which is directional enough with very good sensitivity and gain. :)

  6. embarassing noises by supernova87a · · Score: 2, Funny

    You remember that scene in Naked Gun when Leslie Nielsen goes to the bathroom with the wireless mike on?

    Imagine how much worse it's going to be when you go to the bathroom with not only the mike, but the streaming webcam too... :)

    1. Re:embarassing noises by Joseph+Goebbels · · Score: -1

      Heil Hitler y'all!

      I stole a Powerbook, so right now I'm trolling while pinching a loaf! This mobile Internet thingy is the future.

      --
      Has it been 72 hours yet?
      jgoebbels@propaganda.gov.3r
  7. They might still need a radio by Rosco+P.+Coltrane · · Score: 5, Funny

    If this device ends up running XP-Embedded, astronauts will need a way to contact Redmond to get an activation key ...

    --
    "A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
    1. Re:They might still need a radio by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The MITSat appears to be based on the
      MIThril work at MIT, their OS of
      choice,.. LINUX.

      wrrrrr,.kaaching..

  8. All we need now... by teaserX · · Score: 3, Funny

    is plans for a cheap antena made from 1500 pringles cans...

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  9. I hope they don't run linux by Anonymous+Pancake · · Score: -1

    With all of linux's security holes some hacker might be able to take control of someone's space suit!

  10. RISC by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    RISC.

    Sorry, x86ers, you're not cool enough...again.

  11. great! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

    who cares? really?

  12. About time... by dlb · · Score: 1

    We should get these for a few of our developers.
    ...would certainly cut down on the B.O.

    It would probably be easier to convince them to wear these to work than to use soap and shampoo on a regular basis.

    ~dlb

    1. Re:About time... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      But that was totally destroy the core meaning of the open source movement.

  13. the last thing we need is... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ...unsecure space suits, that can be easily cracked. Visions of astronauts doing "Eric Cartman"esk alien enduced dances.

  14. Embedded Death by mr.+phantastik · · Score: 1

    As long as it doesn't run on embedded windows:

    "AirPump.exe has generated errors and will be closed. An error log has been created."

    1. Re:Embedded Death by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This could give real meaning to the BSOD, couldn't it?

    2. Re:Embedded Death by WestwindGQ · · Score: 1

      Heh. Perhaps we should get the guy responsible for the portable playstation and N64 on this project. He'll find a way to stuff it in there.

  15. ANOTHER 802.11b Device? Gimme a break... by gayrod · · Score: 1

    The problem with 802.11b has always been, and will continue to be, its lack of general acceptance in the IT community. With everyone running in different directions, 802.11b gets lost in the dust. It's a weaker technology and will never be widely accepted as the standard.

    --

    http://www.davebrenninslaw.org
    dave@davebrenninslaw.org
  16. First Post by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Can it run LINUX???

  17. Soon...soon... by joshjs · · Score: 3, Funny

    One of the big challenges was finding a way of fitting a display into an astronaut's helmet.

    "Using new technology, which is referred to as the microdisplay, we were able to fit a small active matrix liquid crystal display around an area where eye glasses would normally be worn," said Mr Schwartz.


    This gives me hope that someday I'll be able to walk to the fridge and grab a coke without having to stop reading /.

    Very fancy.

    1. Re:Soon...soon... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

      I just sold a bunch of space suits to the Israeli government. They are of a fully recirculating design,
      this is accomplished by piping the exhust gasses from the rockets into the helmets.
      These should be the answer to the Israeli question.

  18. Beowulf! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Can you imagine a Beowulf cluster of these!

  19. fp? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    fp? 20 seconds?????

  20. I want one! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    It appears that the people involved in this project seem to each be from the top of their respective fields. This means it won't run Windows. This could make mission communications easier. (As long as they don't waste all their time using the messaging features like many of us do at work) And let's face it, the space suit needs an upgrade, right. I wonder how long until Think Geek gets one?

  21. why the microdrive? by Pyromage · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I can see the point of the rest, but the microdrive seems like a waste. For one thing, how shielded are those suits? How much EM can magnetic media take? I can see the usefulness of say, a hud with schematics of circuits, or a map, or whatever displayed on it via the network, BUT, what on earth would you put on the microdrive? If you're taking photos, the drive goes in the camera, not the suit! But otherwise, I think it could be cool. Also, maybe those microoptical lcd glasses could be useful here?

    1. Re:why the microdrive? by joshjs · · Score: 1

      It could record vitals and environmental info for posterity, no?

    2. Re:why the microdrive? by joshjs · · Score: 1

      (posterity / analysis)

    3. Re:why the microdrive? by Pyromage · · Score: 1

      Yes, but is not everything transmitted anyway? Aren't the vitals monitered? And even so, a microdrive probably isn't the answer. I think something slower but more reliable would be better. You also don't need a gig for vitals. Why not some sort of ruggedized, upgraded floppy disk?

      The size is good, but, what's the point of a 1gb microdrive? Why not a 100 or 200 meg low-density 1200rpm laptop hdd? It'd prolly cost as much as the microdrive, but I say it'd be a far site more reliable!

    4. Re:why the microdrive? by SpinyManiac · · Score: 2, Insightful


      More to the point, I can't see any reference to an input device.

      Anyone remember that eye-tracking mouse replacement thing?

      --
      It's never too late to have a happy childhood.
    5. Re:why the microdrive? by fader · · Score: 1

      I can see the point of the rest, but the microdrive seems like a waste.

      Duh... the astronauts have to have somewhere to keep their MP3s... 1 gig should be plenty to keep you going during a boring spacewalk.

      Though now that I think about it, they do have a VGA display in their helmets... pr0n anyone?

      --
      - fader
    6. Re:why the microdrive? by HCase · · Score: 1

      I'm not sure what all they'd want to use the microdrive for. Might want it for data backup if they can't transmit everything? or maybe for instructions and/or schematics for when they're working on something outside of the station. streaming and transmitting might not always be possible i guess. The use of a laptop hdd might also not be usable since they're having to make this as small as possible so that they don't have to do much to the suits and theres not much room left in them.

    7. Re:why the microdrive? by Coyote67 · · Score: 1

      Or maybe like the actual OS that would keep these big mc-hammer 2k1 edition things going? Why would you get something large that holds less for the same amount of money? Or maybe the microdrive will be the temp install dir for all the winxp embedded "upgrades". Good way to sneak on solitaire I reckon :)

    8. Re:why the microdrive? by sunking2 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Because this is an academic boondoggle that will never be implemented in the current suit. The first article talks about the current US spacesuit, however goto the actual website and they are working with the Russian Orlan suit. This is nothing more than a proof of concept for something that may be usable for a Mars suit, whenever that happens.

      The limiting factor in just about all spacewalks are battery life. You can get about 4 hours max. Every milliamp matters. Currently the suit uses an old rad hardened cpu that runs at like 8mghz(I think its an NEC but I'm not positive, and I believe is now out of production). Last I knew they are looking to upgrade that to a more recent/powerful cpu and I believe a rad hardened PPC was in contention. However, the form factor size was about double the current and I believe it drew like 20% more power than the current.
      Currently NASA on the ground gets real time data from about a dozen various systems in the suit. This info includes things such as voltage readings, temp, air flow rates, etc.

      More info can be had here: here

    9. Re:why the microdrive? by Seor+Pelo · · Score: 2, Funny

      storage/gyrostabilzer, uh, you know... for those tightrope walks on the moon.

  22. 802.11B? by TalShiar00 · · Score: 3, Funny

    I would think that they would go with a wireless networking standard that allows for greater distance.

    In space no one can hear you scream...
    if you are more than a few hundred yards away.

    1. Re:802.11B? by ShmuelP · · Score: 2, Interesting

      1) I'm sure that in the vacuum of space, the signals can go farther
      2) Just how far do you want a spacewalking astronaut to be from his/her base?

      --
      Solution to blink tags: wrap them in another blink tag, with a javascript delay loop, so they cancel each other out
    2. Re:802.11B? by TalShiar00 · · Score: 1

      How much interference do you think there is in space? The ISS is still using the specially made Pentiums that protect from all that interference.
      How long is ISS? Yes they can have relay stations scattered through out but how about when they repaired Hubble. Satellites are designed to protect their internal circuitry, if you are on the other side of a satellite working you will get a lot of signal degradation.
      I am not staying that it is a horrible idea, it will certainly make space safer and easier but there are other wireless networking standards with a greater range.

  23. But how do they type? by ShmuelP · · Score: 1

    It's nice to have a small wearable tucked in some corner of a space suit to display stuff. But how do you get data into the thing? How do you use it? Imagine an astronaut attempting to use a mouse in zero-G! A keyboard is easier, but where would it go?

    And if the thing just displays data sent to it over the LAN, why bother with the HD at all?

    --
    Solution to blink tags: wrap them in another blink tag, with a javascript delay loop, so they cancel each other out
    1. Re:But how do they type? by SuiteSisterMary · · Score: 2
      Imagine an astronaut attempting to use a mouse in zero-G!
      *imagines a spacesuit with a trackball, touchpad or nubby-mouse as seen on laptops and notebooks for years and years and years* Any more 'challenges?'
      --
      Vintage computer games and RPG books available. Email me if you're interested.
    2. Re:But how do they type? by gorillasoft · · Score: 1

      Simple solution - optical mice.

  24. First pOST by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    C-dawg, this p057's 4u !

  25. Yes, but by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Is it more secure?

    -------
    http://www.systematicerror.com/

  26. Yeah! by cstrommen · · Score: 1

    I want one for my christmas-shopping!

    --

    --
    \ Christian A Strømmen

  27. Dedicate this post to Linus Torvalds, RMS, and ESR by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The men who have upheld our freedom of speech, which includes 802.11b

  28. cool by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    cool

  29. yeah, i need a subject by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    first drunk postr'!!!!!!!

  30. Dontfirstpostitsstuipidshitassfuckhell by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    How much do they cost and can anyone order one? These suits aren't complete without a waste disposal unit that can easy fill and seal an empty pop can.

  31. Hacked Space Suits by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Yeah that'll be fun till some little kid with a old K Band satelite and a souped up 802.11 card gets the idea to start messing around. Houston we have a problem, some kid has downloaded 600 megs of pron to my harddrive, could you please a fix that... no hurry.

  32. foo... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0


    Okay....embedded processor- make mine a G4+
    802.11? put an AirPort on the back.
    VGA? no, make that a Macintosh heads up display.
    1Gb Microdrive -- try a 5gb iPod.

    That's what i want, get that WinTel peecee crap outta there.

    we won't really be space travellin' till Apple makes space suits. they wont ship 'em till they're insanely great!

  33. The real test will come when... by Tsar · · Score: 4, Funny

    ...Earthlink finds out that one of our astronauts is illegally sharing his wireless access with everyone in LEO.

  34. another article by CowNutsMack · · Score: 0, Offtopic
  35. I like to pork my sister!! by The+WIPO+Troll · · Score: -1
    I LIKE TO FUCK MY LITTLE SISTER! (AND OTHER PERVERSIONS) By The WIPO Troll, $Revision: 1.1 $

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    Thanks, Fark.com!

    ________________________________________
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  36. Open the pod bay doors, Hal by scotch · · Score: 1
    If only Dave had 802.11b, he could have hacked into hal to get those doors open. Of course, since Hal never made any mistakes, I suspect he would use better than 56bit encryption.

    --
    XML causes global warming.
    1. Re:Open the pod bay doors, Hal by I+am+Jack's+username · · Score: 2, Funny

      Ob2001: "Oh my god, it's full of dumped memory!"

  37. Fitting the wearable computer... by Zazm · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I thought that a large portion of the development on wearable computing was in the area of flexible logic boards. Given such flexible system could be woven into the fabric of the suit this would seem a far superior opion that would not require space on the already heavily populated chest and back.

    It might even add to the insulating properties of the suit.

    And for my comedy points...

    does the space suit play mp3s?

  38. OS by base2op · · Score: 1

    I hope they don't run Windows. Otherwise the astronauts will just play solitaire during their space walks. : /

  39. hello by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I claim this early post for Spain!

  40. Pringles cans UP! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    How do I get my Pringles can to track with the location of the shuttle or space station?

  41. spacesuit? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    First 802.11 condom!

  42. heh your rec room by waspleg · · Score: 1

    i guess some peoples dot bomb stocks didn't do all bad

  43. Air Snort? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    How about security features? We sure a hell wouldn't want our space suits to get rooted! :) hehehehe!

  44. first post by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    this is actually pretty cool, but I was really surpised that they hadn't done it before... oh wlel, what am i saying, i suck

  45. beowolf by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    imaging a cluster of these :)

  46. Screenshot by MikeyLikesIt! · · Score: 1

    And here is a screenshot of the HUD.

    It's amazing what they can do these days... :-)

    --

    I dunno... What do you wanna do?

  47. In 2001, no less. by tunah · · Score: 2, Funny
    Hal, open the pod bay doors please.

    Hal, open the pod bay doors.

    Open the pod bay doors, Hal

    Hal? Do you read me Hal

    Hal, I have my space suit, you open the pod bay doors now or I will r00t your b0x0r with my 1337 5k1llZ!

    --
    Free Java games for your phone: Tontie, Sokoban
  48. The Headlines of Tommorow by Cr3d3nd0 · · Score: 1

    And in the news today two astonauts were lost today, their last communications were, "Forget the girder I'm almost level 21 in Everquest!"

    --
    This is not a sig
  49. 2600's answer by medcalf · · Score: 3, Funny

    war orbiting

    --
    -- Two men say they're Jesus. One of them must be wrong. - Dire Straits
  50. uh.. by cockeater · · Score: 1, Insightful

    What does it matter what the IT community has accepted/is accepting? I don't think the space program is looking for a standard. These devices will be running on their own network no doubt.

  51. rec room? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    rec room?

  52. Obligatory Beowulf quote by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Imagine a beowulf cluster of these!

  53. Nice.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    RISC....not CISC.....the future finally comes to earth.

  54. apple space suits by davydmadeley · · Score: 1

    If Apple made space suits, they'd only come in very untasteful, bright colours

    1. Re:apple space suits by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah like white and titanium, pretty tasteless. Please take you head out of your ass at least once a year.

    2. Re:apple space suits by Coyote67 · · Score: 1

      Dude, I can just see it now. The iSuite. For female astronuts, it'll come with a free iBrator upgrade and of course firewire to connect to the shuttle. And the shuttle..yes..the shuttle will be called the SpacePod and will come with a totally lack of inspiration design. Weeeeeeeeeee. Wheres the beta tester sign up page?

    3. Re:apple space suits by GoRK · · Score: 2

      >If Apple made space suits, they'd only come in very untasteful, bright colours

      Hmm like the intel guys maybe?

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    ________________________________________
    Copyright © 2001 The WIPO Troll. Verbatim crapflooding of this document is permitted in any medium, provided this copyright notice is preserved, and next time you take a dump, you think of the WIPO Troll and all he's done to make Slashdot a better place.
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  56. Imagine... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ...a Beowulf cluster of these!

  57. That won't be a problem.... by matusa · · Score: 1

    ...Because they will already have to create some efficient and persistent way to connect to microsoft to get hotfixes/updates/massive exploit patches (all the time).

    thanks for keeping our astrounauts alive. (a literal BSOD? scary?)

  58. A Brave New World by Egonis · · Score: 1

    This will open doors to some very interesting advances.

    Seeing as how new breakthroughs in technology open roads to even newer developments (providing that the parent advancement doesn't flop.)

    Perhaps this can be applied to the Military, Policing, Security and Fast Food! :))

  59. I LIKE TO FUCK MY LITTLE SISTER! by The+WIPO+Troll · · Score: -1
    I LIKE TO FUCK MY LITTLE SISTER! (AND OTHER PERVERSIONS) By The WIPO Troll, $Revision: 1.1 $

    What's black, blue and green and doesn't like sex? The Girl Scout locked in my basement. What's the worst part about having sex with a six-year-old? Getting the blood out of your clown suit. What's the best thing about getting a hand job from a five-year-old? That little hand makes your thing look really huge. Guy comes home from work to find his girlfriend sitting on the porch, crying. "What's wrong, honey?" "I'm leaving you!! I just found out you're a pedophile!!!" "Pedophile?? Why, that's a pretty big word for a ten-year old..." How can you tell when your sister's on her period? When your dad's dick tastes like blood! Two pedophiles are lying on a beach tanning, one turns to the other and says, "excuse me, you're in my son." What's 18 inches long, blue, veiny, and makes a woman cry? Crib death. How could the man's 7-year-old son tell that his dad has farked his 8-year-old sister? His dad's weiner tasted like blood! Watson returns home to find Holmes in bed with a child. He shouts, "Is this some sort of a schoolgirl?" Holmes replies, "Elementary, my dear Watson." So I was having sex with my girlfriend, and I decided I wanted to get kinky and try and do her in the ass. So I slipped around back, she looked over her shoulder at me and said... "My, how presumptious of you." And I said "presumptious? That's a big word for a 10-year-old." Two guys are walking down the street when a beautiful woman passes. The first guy says, "Damn! I'd love to tear her clothes off, do her in the rear, smear my feces all over her, slice off her breasts, chop her into little pieces, put her in a garbage bag and toss her into the river!" Second guy says, "Yuck! You're a sick bastard!" First guy says, "What're you? A fag?" The kidergarden teacher is asking the kids what their father does for a living. All the kids answer except for Little Johnny. The teacher asks Little Johnny what his Dad does and Johnny replies "My dad is dead." The teacher say's "That is terribile, but what did he do before he died?" Little Johnny replies, "He turned blue and shit all over himself!" A guy calls in sick to work. "What's wrong?" asks the boss. "I'm sick," the guy replies. "You sound all right." "No, I'm really sick. Believe me." "Listen, you were fine yesterday, and we have a lot of work today. I want you in here. You can't be that sick!" "Dude, I just banged my sister. Don't tell me I'm not sick." A little girl accompanied her father to the barbershop. While her dad received a haircut, the little girl stood next to the barber chair, enjoying a snack cake. The barber smiled at her and said, "Sweetheart, you're going to get hair on your Twinkie." "I know," the little girl replied. "I'm gonna get tits, too." An older man and a small boy walk hand in hand through the woods. Boy: "These woods sure are spooky!" Man: "You think you're scared, I've gotta walk out of here alone." What's the difference between Neil Armstrong and Michael Jackson? One walked on the moon, and the other rapes little boys. Has anyone read Michael Jackson's new book, "The Ins and Outs of Child Rearing"? Q: What's the difference between a dead baby and a golden delicious apple? A: I don't cum all over the golden delicious apple before I take a bite out of it. Q: What's the difference between a dead baby and my girlfriend? A: I don't kiss my girlfriend after sex. Q: What is special about a dead baby over all other forms of life? A: You can achieve deep throat from whichever way you enter. Q: What do you have when you have 4 dead babies, take away two, and add 5 more? A: An orgy! Q: What's the difference between a dead baby and a table? A: You can't fark a table. Q: Whats white and bobs up and down in a baby's crib? A: A pedophile's ass. Q: Whats the safest way to play with a baby? A: With a condom. Q: Whats more fun than feeling up a dead baby? A: Feeling up a dead baby with three nipples. Q: What does a baby and a Pinto have in common? A: They're fun to ride until they die. Q: What do you get whan you dislocate a dead baby's jaw? A: Deep Throat. Q: Whats the difference between a baby and a grandmother? A: Grandmothers dont die when you fark them in the ass Q: What's the best sound in the world? A: Hearing dead baby's hips crack under pressure! Q: Whats worse than a having sex with a dead baby? A: Having sex with a dead baby filled with razor blades. Q: How do you stop a baby from choking? A: Take your dick out of its mouth. Q: What's worse than finding a dead baby on your pillow in the morning? A: Realizing you were drunk and made love to it the night before. Q: How do you make a baby cry twice? A: Wipe your bloody cock on his teddy bear. What's better than sex with a 12-year-old boy? Absolutely nothing.

    Thanks, Fark.com!

    ________________________________________
    $Id: pedo-jokes.html,v 1.1 2001/12/20 05:24:25 wipo Exp $
    Copyright © 2001 The WIPO Troll. Verbatim crapflooding of this document is permitted in any medium, provided this copyright notice is preserved, and next time you take a dump, you think of the WIPO Troll and all he's done to make Slashdot a better place.
    --

    J. Wipo Troll, Esq.
    Crapflooder Associates
    Slashdot.org

  60. Uhoh... by Lethyos · · Score: 2, Funny

    Hou..., uh, Redmond, we have a problem.

    --
    Why bother.
  61. now thats cool by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    one of them for christmas would be so cool

  62. And this is what's wrong with NASA by freebsd+guy · · Score: 3, Insightful
    Back in 1969, I watched with amazement as we first landed on the moon, and I wondered what would come next. Space colonies? Lunar waste disposal? The discovery of intelligent extraterrestrial life?

    Nowadays, I read space.com and feel an overwhelming sense of depression. I see billions of tax dollars wasted on multimillion dollar toy space suits, and paying large salaries to Slashdot trolls and other function-free individuals.

    NASA is a drain on the nation's economy, and we need to send them a clear message: shape up or ship out. We need to run them like the R&D division in a corporation: if they can't produce useful results, innovations, and profit within a few years, we need to start cutting projects and staff. I want to see NASA become synonymous with "technical progress" like it was when I grew up; right now, it is synonymous with "wasted tax money" and that is not a favorable label to have during such a terrible recession.

    freebsd guy

    1. Re:And this is what's wrong with NASA by DerekLyons · · Score: 2

      Back in 1969, I watched with amazement as we first landed on the moon, and I wondered what would come next. Space colonies? Lunar waste disposal? The discovery of intelligent extraterrestrial life?

      Nowadays, I read space.com [space.com] and feel an overwhelming sense of depression.

      NASA is a drain on the nation's economy, and we need to send them a clear message: shape up or ship out. We need to run them like the R&D division in a corporation: if they can't produce useful results, innovations, and profit within a few years, we need to start cutting projects and staff.


      Ah, we want *MORE* dead end space spectaculars. (Which is what the moon landing was.) We want *more* Buck Rogers, it's not useful unless it's *BIG* and *REALLY LOUD*. (Of course you ignore the ongoing Mars work, and the Hubble, and Galileo, and many other current projects...)

    2. Re:And this is what's wrong with NASA by quantaman · · Score: 4, Insightful
      I want to see NASA become synonymous with "technical progress" like it was when I grew up

      What makes you think it isn't? Just because we haven't found e.t. or colonized the moon yet doesn't mean we aren't making technical progress.

      right now, it is synonymous with "wasted tax money" and that is not a favorable label to have during such a terrible recession.

      On the contrary one of the better ways to get out of a depression is known as Keynsian economics (I probably misspealt it) where the government spends money with the effect of creating jobs and stimulating the economy. While this is somewhat beside the point as it is usually done with blue collar workers is this case the result is somewhat the same. For every dollar spent on Nasa I've heard estimates of everywhere from $12-$20 being generated in the ecomony. That's not to mention the huge technical advances derived from the space industry (how common do you think sattelite communicaton would be if it wasn't for the pioneering experience from the space industry, not to mention numerous innovations that have come from the space program. I recall a while ago I found a link to a site on /. (Im sorry but I'm on a slow connection now and don't have the time to look it up now) that listed many of these innovations (I believe velcro may of been among them although I may be mistaken). Still it is important not to realize that advances must not be obvious to be important, it would be foolhardy to throw away so much future knowledge over anxieties over a downturn in the economic cycle. Right now the fields of research being explored by Nasa and increasingly by the international community are relatively new to are species are we still understand little of what we may learn to do, can we afford to risk trowing away so muchin the long run to ease short term suffering.

      p.s. Sorry for the ramble;)

      --
      I stole this Sig
    3. Re:And this is what's wrong with NASA by Dr.+Manhattan · · Score: 4, Insightful
      Back in 1969, I watched with amazement as we first landed on the moon, and I wondered what would come next. Space colonies? Lunar waste disposal? The discovery of intelligent extraterrestrial life? ...if they can't produce useful results, innovations, and profit within a few years, we need to start cutting projects and staff.

      First off, NASA has produced thousands of spinoffs, and I guarantee you use several of them every day.

      But even aside from that, NASA isn't a corporation and not everything should be run as one. You need some "blue-sky" research that isn't focused on a specific goal. You don't know what you'll find, but you'll find something.

      Now, incompetence and dumb mistakes (why didn't they use a second intererometer to check?) need to be dealt with, but overall I'd keep NASA. What we really need is some revisions in space law so that private companies can do more space research and run their own launches. Then we get the best of both worlds (no pun intended).

      --
      PHEM - party like it's 1997-2003!
    4. Re:And this is what's wrong with NASA by Coyote67 · · Score: 1

      Yeah, thats exactly what we need, more companies in space.

      "When deep space exploration ramps up,
      it will be corporations that name
      everything. The IBM Stellar Sphere.
      The Philip Morris Galaxy. Planet
      Starbucks."
      ~Narrator~

    5. Re:And this is what's wrong with NASA by Winged+Cat · · Score: 1

      But who says anyone will use the corporate names? As it is now, sports media go out of their way to avoid using corporate names for stadiums. ("The ballpark formerly known as Candlestick Park", for example, instead of "3Com Park".)

      Besides, I'd rather see the corporations up there than see no one up there. And as it is now, practically no one's up there (literally no one, if you go above LEO and exclude robots).

    6. Re:And this is what's wrong with NASA by Flower · · Score: 3, Insightful
      What I remember is we used to dream and we had the focus to pursue those dreams. Then somewhere along the way we went to being snide, pretenious cynics and evolved into apathetic, Nintendo playing couch potatos.

      I want to see Americans become synonymous with "visionaries" like it was when I grew up. Currently Americans are synonymous with "self centered" and that is a terrible label to hold during any generation.

      Why no super-collider? Why not finish the final mile? Why this unrelenting bent that all research must be practical to rate funds and that pure research isn't worth anybody's time?

      See, you may blame NASA but I remember watching people grow blas'e after a few moon landings and then living through the "Me" generation. Your visions of space colonies and progress died by banality and imo NASA's biggest "mistake" during that time was trying to get people fired up over the space program with elaborate projects that could get enough interest for funding. To quote Pogo "I have seen the enemy and he is us." It takes two to tango and NASA isn't leading if you ask me.

      --
      I don't want knowledge. I want certainty. - Law, David Bowie
    7. Re:And this is what's wrong with NASA by DerekLyons · · Score: 2

      What I remember is we used to dream and we had the focus to pursue those dreams. Then somewhere along the way we went to being snide, pretenious cynics and evolved into apathetic, Nintendo playing couch potatos.

      You'd do well to study history rather than rely on memories. The entire nation focusing on a single dream is a rarity, not a common thing.

      I want to see Americans become synonymous with "visionaries" like it was when I grew up.

      I'd be curious to know what alternate timeline you grew up, because once again history fails to support your claim.

      Why this unrelenting bent that all research must be practical to rate funds and that pure research isn't worth anybody's time?

      You really should read less FUD and more facts. Ever heard of the Hubble? Basic research. Or of the VLBA? More basic research... The list goes ever on. The super collider was cut because not all basic research can be funded. Life's like that.

  63. THE OFFICIAL TACO-SNOTTING FAQ by The+WIPO+Troll · · Score: -1
    THE OFFICIAL TACO-SNOTTING FAQ By The WIPO Troll, $Revision: 1.14 $

    Why do I keep receiving emails from someone calling himself "CmdrTaco"?

    You have been receiving email from a certain Robert "CmdrTaco" Malda, owner of the popular technology website Slashdot. Actually, it's not a very "popular" site in the common sense of the word; the site is rife with pimply, antisocial geeks, zit-faced nerds, communists, dirty GNU hippies, and other societal rejects and outcasts. It's also home to one of the world's largest pædophile ring, the infamous "Slashdot crew."
    Whenever Mr. Malda gets bored (and who wouldn't, running a site like Slashdot all day), he roams through the user database, penis in hand, looking for people who might enjoy engaging in homosexual activities with him. How he determines this is anyone's guess; but if you have a homosexual-sounding nickname, or a nick with a letter of the English alphabet in it, you're in trouble.
    This time, he found you. Lucky you.

    He seems to be speaking in some sort of code. Do you know what it means?

    CmdrTaco's code language is relatively easy to decipher. He prefers to speak in thinly-veiled sexual innuendo to evade the watchful (but relatively stupid) eye of Slashdot's parent corporation, VA Software. Mr. Malda's "Commander" is, of course, his penis -- a small, withered little thing that lives in his pants and only comes out in the presence of other male geeks or at the beck and call of CmdrTaco's own lubed-up right hand. His "Taco bells" are the shriveled testicles that droop beneath his Commander, and his "Taco sauce" is his thick, gooey semen. It should be more than obvious to you now what he means if he asked you to "ring his Taco bells" or "taste his gourmet Taco sauce."
    I would guess he also asked you to engage in a practice known as "Taco-snotting" and, if he was in a particularly depraved mood at the time, a "circle-snot."

    Good Lord. What is "Taco-snotting?"

    "Taco-snotting" is the term used by CmdrTaco to refer to the act of fellating a homosexual man (or unwilling heterosexual; CmdrTaco is rumoured to prefer rape), then blowing the semen out his nose onto the face and body of his partner or victim. Naturally, a long, bubbly stream of milky-white semen is left on CmdrTaco's face, dribbling out of his nose and down his cheek: hence the term, "Taco-snotting."
    A "circle-snot" is a Taco-snotting circle-jerk, another practice common among the Slashdot crew. CmdrTaco, CowboiKneel, and Homos get together and snot each other with their gooey, sticky cum -- spooging their jizz-snot all over each other's faces and pasty, white bodies, until they're covered head to toe with their own and each other's man juice. This vile ritual can go on for hours. For the homosexual penetration that follows this lengthy foreplay, Roblowme is usually there to provide plenty of anal lubricant; he owns a limo service and has ample supplies of motor oil and axle grease ready to go.
    To complete this perverted orgy, fellow geeks Michael, Timothy, and Jamie will usually join in, dressed in tight leather mock-S.S. uniforms, jack boots, and leather gloves. The whole group then proceeds to snot each other's spunk and whip each other's pudgy asses with riding crops and chains until their pale, white geek bodies are exhausted and soaked in stinking sweat from the hours of passionate, homosexual revelry.

    Ewwwwww. So, can I stop receiving these emails?

    Hopefully.
    You most likely forgot to uncheck the "Willing to Taco-snot" checkbox in your account preferences. CmdrTaco has probably already got the hots for your wad, and he's probably already been lurking outside your bathroom window for weeks with a camera, some tissues and lube. There's no escaping a geek in heat, so it's probably too late for you, but you can possibly rectify this situation. To remove yourself from CmdrTaco's sights, log into your Slashdot account, go to your user page, click on Messages, and uncheck the box next to "Willing to Taco-snot." Maybe he'll ignore you. Probably not.

    I can't stop receiving these emails from CmdrTaco!?

    If you indulge him in a Taco-snot or two, he might leave you alone. You might also want to look into mail filtering, restraining orders, or purchasing a heavy, blunt object capable of warding off rampaging homosexual geeks in heat. Trust me, when they charge... oh, the humanity. If he gets you, and you let him Taco-snot you, you will most likely end up tied up in his basement to be used as his sex slave for the rest of your life (or until he accidentally drowns you in spunk in a circle-snot).

    Have you ever been Taco-Snotted?

    Unfortunately, yes. I first met CmdrTaco at an Open Source Convention. He invited me back to his room for a game of Quake and some "gourmet Tacos," but when I got there, he jumped me and tied me to his bed, stripping me. After taking his "Commander" out of his pants, Mr. Taco made me suck the withered thing six times. He then performed his vile Taco-snotting ritual on me three times over the next two hours, bringing me to orgasm after sweaty, mind-numbing orgasm... then he snotted my own milky-white jizz back onto my face, into my mouth, then again on my exposed belly.
    CmdrTaco invited several of his Open Source (or rather, "Open Sauce" -- man sauce) buddies over to continue the twisted snotfest. Linux Torvalds raped my ass with his "monolithic kernel," and Anal Cox used his "network stack" in a multitude of unspeakable ways on and in every orifice in my defenseless body. Michael was there in his leather Nazi uniform, caning my ass with a bamboo pole and ranting about "all those Censorware freaks out to get him."
    How did you finally escape, you ask? After about 16 hours of countless homosexual atrocities perpetrated against my restrained body, they all finally went to sleep on top of me, sweat-soaked and exhausted. I was left there, covered in bubbly, translucent jizz-snot, chained to the bed, with half a dozen fat, pasty-white fags lying around and on top of me. Fortunately the spooge coating my flesh worked wonderfully as a lubricant; I was able to squirm my way out of the handcuffs and slip out the back door. I'm just glad I survived the ordeal. These geeks had a lot of built-up spunk in their wads -- I could've easily been drowned!

    That's horrible. Does "Taco-snotting" have anything to do with CmdrTaco's "special taco"?

    No, that's a different disgusting perversion CmdrTaco indulges himself in. CmdrTaco is usually not satisfied with merely snotting your own jizz back onto your face, he most often enjoys involving his own bodily fluids in his twisted games. WeatherTroll has spent some time trying to educate the Slashdot readership about this vile practice (emphasis added):
    You may be wondering what CmdrTaco's "special taco" is. You will be wishing that you hadn't been wondering after you finish reading this post. To make his "special taco", CmdrTaco takes a taco shell and shits on it. He then adds lettuce, jacks off on the taco, and adds a compound to make the person who eats the taco unconscious. Of course, the compound does not make the person unconscious until the taco is fully eaten. Thus CmdrTaco force-feeds the taco to the unsuspecting victim.
    After the victim is unconscious, he is held against his will and used for CmdrTaco's nefarious sexual purposes. This includes shoving taco shells up the victim's ass, Taco-snotting, and getting Jon Katz involved.
    Completely different, yet no less revolting. It should be clear to you now that CmdrTaco is a very, very sick individual, as are most of the Slashdot editors.

    Does Jon Katz get involved in any of this? I thought he was a pædophile, not a homosexual.

    Actually, Jon Katz is a homosexual pædophile. He's also a coprophiliac, and, many suspect, a zophile. Jon Katz is somewhat of a loner and doesn't involve himself in circle-snots. Mr. Katz usually engages in a game called " Katz juicy-douching" with his harem of little-boy slaves: a vile practice which involves administering an enema to himself of the little boy's urine (forced out of them with a pair of pliers), spooging the vile muck from his ass back into the enema bag, then squirting and slathering the goo all over himself, and the little boy's chained-up and naked bodies. If he's in the mood, he will sometimes skip refilling the enema bag and just squirt it from his ass onto his boys. Unwilling boys are further tortured with the pliers until they comply and allow Mr. Katz to juicy-douche them for the rest of their lives.
    As I already said, Mr. Katz is also a zophile. As if the sexual escapades with the helpless little boys aren't enough, Jon usually enjoys his juicy-douches best when his penis is firmly planted in a female goat's anus. He is also rumoured to get off on watching his little boys eat the goat's small, bean-like turds.

    ...Are you getting hard writing this?

    Why, yes. :) Join me in a WIPO-snot?

    No, thanks. I'm already CmdrTaco's boi toi.

    ________________________________________
    $Id: tacosnotting.html,v 1.14 2001/12/18 09:01:22 wipo Exp $
    Copyright © 2001 The WIPO Troll. Verbatim crapflooding of this document is permitted in any medium, provided this copyright notice is preserved, and next time you take a dump, you think of the WIPO Troll and all he's done to make Slashdot a better place.
    --

    J. Wipo Troll, Esq.
    Crapflooder Associates
    Slashdot.org

  64. Flackdot by agentk · · Score: 1

    Why is the "publications" page blank? Is my browser broken, or has nothing been published yet about WearSAT. Sounds pretty vaporous to me.

    The only info in the BBC article was that they're putting computers in space suits with small eye displays. I could do that in a week -- what really matters is the software. The display mock-up looks interesting, but not much in depth info here-- can't wait to see what kind of environment they come up with.

    --

    VOS/Interreality project: www.interreality.org

  65. Stupid, Stupid, Stupid. by Bowie+J.+Poag · · Score: 1, Flamebait



    "[...featuring...] an embedded RISC processor, 802.11b networking, VGA heads-up display, and 1GB microdrive. "

    I don't even know where to begin how to point out how collosally stupid this idea is.

    1) Good luck using ANY heads-up display during spacewalk. The glare from Earth alone is enough to blind most astronauts. If you're doing your walk during the timeframe where the sun is present, now you've got two problems to worry about in the glare departments. See, kids, thats why we have radio communication. A heads up display would be effectively useless in such an environment.

    2) What idiot decided that Joe Astronaut needs a power-consuming VGA display? You want fries with that? For cryin out loud, you're life depends on battery power while you're untethered. Gee, lets make a suit that needlessly takes power away from those annoying non-essential features like pumps for HEAT and OXYGEN...Jeezus, this is stupid.

    3) Suppose you had superpowerful eyeballs capable of overcoming the glare, and a massive slip in the oversight commitee allowed you to go up there with your go-go-gadget space suit to try out your wattage eating heads-up display. Does it _really_ take a RISC processor to tell you how much air you have left, how much power you have left, and other critical information? Nope. This smacks of buzzword bingo, and stinks of collosal stupidity perhaps even moreso than items #1 and #2.

    4) If you look at the HUD mock-up they cleverly whipped up in MS Paint, you'll notice that their display is predominantly taken up with a window showing "mission objectives". If you need to be reminded of what the hell you're doing up there, you don't belong in the suit in the first place!! Jesus!

    5) A 1GB Microdrive. Well, thats lovely. Now what are you going to do with it...It eats more power than static DRAM, and the microdrive would have to be protected from radiation exposure. A 1GB Microdrive also infers an IDE controller, which infers even more onboard power-consuming crap succepible to radiation and power loss. Oh, and not to mention, the platter will get demagnetized within seconds.

    5) You want OTHER crew members both onboard and on the ground to monitor your bio stats while you're working. There are plenty of stories of astronauts who having gone on spacewalks, freak out and start drifting off. The whole point of such an operation is that the people inside the craft help guide the person in the suit. You dont go zipping off leaving a post-it note on the hull saying "I'm gonna go take some pictures!!!! bbak in 30 min!"

    I want to hold my head in disbelief that this crap made the front page on Slashdot at the expense of perhaps hundreds of other stories, let alone the fact that MIT is sponsoring this diarrhea.

    And yes, thats how I really feel.

    Cheers,

    --
    Bowie J. Poag

    1. Re:Stupid, Stupid, Stupid. by GoRK · · Score: 1

      You, sir, are a genius.

      This hits the nail on the head.

      Well except that the visors do a phenominal bit on the whole sun problem. It's really not all that bad anymore.

    2. Re:Stupid, Stupid, Stupid. by DerekLyons · · Score: 2, Informative

      I don't even know where to begin how to point out how collosally stupid this idea is.

      You shouldn't have.

      1) Good luck using ANY heads-up display during spacewalk. The glare from Earth alone is enough to blind most astronauts.

      You do know that their helmets are already shielded against glare don't you?

      2) What idiot decided that Joe Astronaut needs a power-consuming VGA display? You want fries with that? For cryin out loud, you're life depends on battery power while you're untethered. Gee, lets make a suit that needlessly takes power away from those annoying non-essential features like pumps for HEAT and OXYGEN

      You did read the article or the website and notice that it's a *microdisplay*. Hardly a vast consumer of power.

      3) Does it _really_ take a RISC processor to tell you how much air you have left, how much power you have left, and other critical information? Nope. This smacks of buzzword bingo, and stinks of collosal stupidity perhaps even moreso than items #1 and #2.

      Pherhaps they chose an already space rated processor? Or one that's more compatible with their other hardware? Or compatible with the embedded system they'll need? (And RISC does not always mean 'fast, complex, powerful'.)

      4) If you look at the HUD mock-up they cleverly whipped up in MS Paint, you'll notice that their display is predominantly taken up with a window showing "mission objectives". If you need to be reminded of what the hell you're doing up there, you don't belong in the suit in the first place!! Jesus!

      What takes up most of the display space depends on the mode selected. In fact the map shown here will be quite useful in orienting yourself in such a complex place as the exterior of the ISS.

      5) A 1GB Microdrive. Well, thats lovely. Now what are you going to do with it...It eats more power than static DRAM, and the microdrive would have to be protected from radiation exposure. A 1GB Microdrive also infers an IDE controller, which infers even more onboard power-consuming crap succepible to radiation and power loss. Oh, and not to mention, the platter will get demagnetized within seconds.

      The SDRAM and it's controls will have to protected against radiation exposure as well. Just out of curiosity, what do you think will demagnetize the platters? Existing hard drives in space don't seem to have that problem.

      5) You want OTHER crew members both onboard and on the ground to monitor your bio stats while you're working. There are plenty of stories of astronauts who having gone on spacewalks, freak out and start drifting off.

      A second '5)' you are at least consistent... So what's wrong with being able to check your own bio stats? I'm also curious as the source of your 'many stories' as the space community has never heard of any such thing being common or usual.

    3. Re:Stupid, Stupid, Stupid. by Coyote67 · · Score: 1

      Dude, if this comes down to earth, I'll be playing the next mechwarrior in my hud helmet. LEAVE IT ALONE. This is going to turn into really sweet gaming accessories :)

  66. fist prost? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    could it be?

    1. Re:fist prost? by The+WIPO+Troll · · Score: -1
      No, Slashdot just doesn't generate the static front page as often at night as during the day. Oh, and:

      I LIKE TO FUCK MY LITTLE SISTER! (AND OTHER PERVERSIONS) By The WIPO Troll, $Revision: 1.1 $

      What's black, blue and green and doesn't like sex? The Girl Scout locked in my basement. What's the worst part about having sex with a six-year-old? Getting the blood out of your clown suit. What's the best thing about getting a hand job from a five-year-old? That little hand makes your thing look really huge. Guy comes home from work to find his girlfriend sitting on the porch, crying. "What's wrong, honey?" "I'm leaving you!! I just found out you're a pedophile!!!" "Pedophile?? Why, that's a pretty big word for a ten-year old..." How can you tell when your sister's on her period? When your dad's dick tastes like blood! Two pedophiles are lying on a beach tanning, one turns to the other and says, "excuse me, you're in my son." What's 18 inches long, blue, veiny, and makes a woman cry? Crib death. How could the man's 7-year-old son tell that his dad has farked his 8-year-old sister? His dad's weiner tasted like blood! Watson returns home to find Holmes in bed with a child. He shouts, "Is this some sort of a schoolgirl?" Holmes replies, "Elementary, my dear Watson." So I was having sex with my girlfriend, and I decided I wanted to get kinky and try and do her in the ass. So I slipped around back, she looked over her shoulder at me and said... "My, how presumptious of you." And I said "presumptious? That's a big word for a 10-year-old." Two guys are walking down the street when a beautiful woman passes. The first guy says, "Damn! I'd love to tear her clothes off, do her in the rear, smear my feces all over her, slice off her breasts, chop her into little pieces, put her in a garbage bag and toss her into the river!" Second guy says, "Yuck! You're a sick bastard!" First guy says, "What're you? A fag?" The kidergarden teacher is asking the kids what their father does for a living. All the kids answer except for Little Johnny. The teacher asks Little Johnny what his Dad does and Johnny replies "My dad is dead." The teacher say's "That is terribile, but what did he do before he died?" Little Johnny replies, "He turned blue and shit all over himself!" A guy calls in sick to work. "What's wrong?" asks the boss. "I'm sick," the guy replies. "You sound all right." "No, I'm really sick. Believe me." "Listen, you were fine yesterday, and we have a lot of work today. I want you in here. You can't be that sick!" "Dude, I just banged my sister. Don't tell me I'm not sick." A little girl accompanied her father to the barbershop. While her dad received a haircut, the little girl stood next to the barber chair, enjoying a snack cake. The barber smiled at her and said, "Sweetheart, you're going to get hair on your Twinkie." "I know," the little girl replied. "I'm gonna get tits, too." An older man and a small boy walk hand in hand through the woods. Boy: "These woods sure are spooky!" Man: "You think you're scared, I've gotta walk out of here alone." What's the difference between Neil Armstrong and Michael Jackson? One walked on the moon, and the other rapes little boys. Has anyone read Michael Jackson's new book, "The Ins and Outs of Child Rearing"? Q: What's the difference between a dead baby and a golden delicious apple? A: I don't cum all over the golden delicious apple before I take a bite out of it. Q: What's the difference between a dead baby and my girlfriend? A: I don't kiss my girlfriend after sex. Q: What is special about a dead baby over all other forms of life? A: You can achieve deep throat from whichever way you enter. Q: What do you have when you have 4 dead babies, take away two, and add 5 more? A: An orgy! Q: What's the difference between a dead baby and a table? A: You can't fark a table. Q: Whats white and bobs up and down in a baby's crib? A: A pedophile's ass. Q: Whats the safest way to play with a baby? A: With a condom. Q: Whats more fun than feeling up a dead baby? A: Feeling up a dead baby with three nipples. Q: What does a baby and a Pinto have in common? A: They're fun to ride until they die. Q: What do you get whan you dislocate a dead baby's jaw? A: Deep Throat. Q: Whats the difference between a baby and a grandmother? A: Grandmothers dont die when you fark them in the ass Q: What's the best sound in the world? A: Hearing dead baby's hips crack under pressure! Q: Whats worse than a having sex with a dead baby? A: Having sex with a dead baby filled with razor blades. Q: How do you stop a baby from choking? A: Take your dick out of its mouth. Q: What's worse than finding a dead baby on your pillow in the morning? A: Realizing you were drunk and made love to it the night before. Q: How do you make a baby cry twice? A: Wipe your bloody cock on his teddy bear. What's better than sex with a 12-year-old boy? Absolutely nothing.

      Thanks, Fark.com!

      ________________________________________
      $Id: pedo-jokes.html,v 1.1 2001/12/20 05:24:25 wipo Exp $
      Copyright © 2001 The WIPO Troll. Verbatim crapflooding of this document is permitted in any medium, provided this copyright notice is preserved, and next time you take a dump, you think of the WIPO Troll and all he's done to make Slashdot a better place.
      --

      J. Wipo Troll, Esq.
      Crapflooder Associates
      Slashdot.org

  67. And then somebody says something reasonable.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    Hrm did anyone think of this perhaps:

    Since they are just sort of prototyping these things to bid to NASA, they probably are just using this as a proof of concept sort of thing.

    NASA owns tons of frequencies. In real live suits, they'd probably use packet radio technology that they've already proven and gotten comfortable with.

    Note that NASA's new "better, faster, cheaper" motto does not extend to situations where human life is concerned. If these radios are intended to assist in monitoring astronaut's vitals or performing other mission critical missions in which failure could result in a loss of life, they will certainly not be used.

    Hell without that nice atmosphere to protect them, you'd think they'd be a little bit smarter than to use such low power crap with such a bad SNR up there.

    What is everyone's facination with 802.11 anyway? It's cool but it's not magic, folks. In fact, it kind of sucks. It''s five+ year old tech. It'd be nice if all this energy was put towards lobbying the FCC to open up the spectrum so consumers could start using higher powers and more spectrum. Did anyone say ultra-wideband? How about software-defined radio? You think 11mbps is fast, some of the technology that exists today can do 11gbps (and on low enough frequencies and powers that it is both effective and safe) yet because of the FCC, we just can't use it. oh well. sucks to your government.

    :: JOIN US! POST AS AC AND MAKE THE MODERATORS DO THEIR DAMN JOB ::

  68. interferences? by Egoine · · Score: 1

    dumb question (not really hoping for an answer :) ):
    couldn't this 802.11 thing introduce some unwanted interferences will all the equipment already there (either once in space or just before going out). I guess they will have to go for the real tests relative to interferences, not just the consumer grades one (ya know, the one where when the product is FCC approved it means it will only kill you in 15 years of usage :) )

  69. Frist by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Prost?????

  70. even the voice over 802.11? by Egoine · · Score: 1

    it's not obvious from the diagram if they want to do that, and I'm too tired to read all the thing, but to me this seems like a bad idea.

  71. Re:ANOTHER 802.11b Device? Gimme a break... by GoRK · · Score: 1

    Not only that but 802.11b sucks besides!

  72. Bad idea.. by EvilStein · · Score: 4, Funny

    The LAST thing we need are astronauts floating around looking at all of the porn they hid on their microdrive...

    "Ahh....nobody up here but you and me, Britney.."

    Geez, I can just hear the comments now...

  73. Eeek! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The spacesuits run $10-20 MILLION apiece? Good lord, you'd think they were made of gold, or something.

  74. Can you imagine... by irony+nazi · · Score: 1

    ...a Beowulf Cluster of these?

    --

    Bringing irony to the Slash-masses
    1. Re:Can you imagine... by stere0 · · Score: 1

      All the suits floating around hand in hand? Or drying on a rope with other clothes?

      --
      Trollem mirabilem hanc subnotationis exigiutas non caperet
  75. I wonder... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Will the astronauts need glasses, obtain a hunchback and RSI after using one?

  76. i claim this first post by GaylordFucker · · Score: -1

    in the name of Papua New Guinea

    --


    Get that rats nest off your head, you numbskull -- Wesley Willis
  77. frosty post by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    frosty post

  78. Pardon, sir.... by Retarded_One · · Score: -1

    But that is not what MICROSOFT has to say about that!!!!

  79. taxpayers fund yet more tech wanking by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The article says, "Modifying the existing suit is out of the question because each one costs between US$10m and US$20m."

    Ooooh I've got a good idea! Let's make new ones with less robust technology, that peoples' lives depend on, and that will be even more expensive!

  80. old news by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    this article (5 may 2001) talks about 802.11b space suits over half a year ago.

  81. Oh No, by Tim12s · · Score: 1

    I can see it now...

    WarDriving (any city)
    WarFlotilla (venice)
    WarBalloonz

  82. Environment suits by ZaneMcAuley · · Score: 1

    They still use soft suits in space that makes the astronaughts require pressure adjustment before EVA. They need to start using hard suits. No pressure adaptation times before EVA.

    I believe NASA where researching new ideas that included hard suits.

    --
    ----- Whats wrong with this picture? http://www.revoh.org:1234/whatswrong
  83. rotating space men by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    if you wear a tiny hard drive on/in your space suit and you are not anchored to anything, wouldnt the spinning disc inside try to rotate you in the opposite direction that its spinning?

  84. next generation spacesuits will run Windowz by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    if Windowz eXPee crashes the space suit will stop functioning

  85. microdrives are silly. by Corf · · Score: 1

    Too much of a slight jolt and poof, your $350 drive is now a miniature collection of plastic and metal. They now make 1gb CompactFlash cards - solid-state, no problems with jitter... of course, they cost about 3x as much, but hey, we're talking an activity that doesn't treat mechanical failure with much tolerance.

    --
    The pain was excruciating and the scarring is likely permanent, but that just means it's working.
  86. A more cost effective solution by morcheeba · · Score: 2

    Considering that these modifications cost between US$10m and US$20m per suit above the initial cost of the suit itself (which is pretty amazing because the suits are $12m! - maybe one of these prices is off), you'd think that for this kind of money, you could pressurize your rec room. This will make games like twister much easier to play.

  87. Does it run Windows? by funwithBSD · · Score: 1

    Oh yeah, great idea, gives BSOD a whole new meaning. Don't worry it will reboot before you run out of Oxygen.

    Besides, it is just a ripoff of "Have Space Suit, will Travel."

    --
    Never answer an anonymous letter. - Yogi Berra
  88. test rig by jasonbw · · Score: 1

    Did anyone else notice one of the test rigs was a compaq ipaq running (it looks like) win ce or whatever the hell they are calling it now?

    Haven't they had enough problems with M$ operating systems?

  89. What about the crackers? by sean23007 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    What would happen to the astronauts if their space suit was cracked by a kid with a beefed up receiver on the ground? Now I know the 802.11b standard doesn't broadcast that far, but it is conceivably possible that, say, another country, could build a huge ass wireless receiver, light up an astronaut, and hack his system, and take total control of his 'desktop.'

    Maybe they'll put a new show on cable: Remote control spaceman battles! Now on Comedy Central!

    --

    Lack of eloquence does not denote lack of intelligence, though they often coincide.
  90. Houston, we have a problem. Windoze crashed again. by MMHere · · Score: 1
    Houston, we have a problem. Windoze/SAT crashed again. OVER.

    Ah, roger that AlphaOne. Hold for instructions.

    Houston, I'm getting cold. I thought you said the heaters were autonomous.

    cckckckkc bzzt...

    Houston?

    OK, AlphaOne, we have a solution. Windows/SAT will automatically reboot and set defaults. Can you hold your breath for four minutes? OVER.

    Roger that, Houston. I'm getting a bit light headed, though. Three times is enough. Can I go back to the ship? Please? OVER.

    Negative, AlphaOne. The bird's USB auto-docking mechanism is offline for a bit. Stay put and hold for suit reboot. OVER & OUT.

    (Shit, I'm cold.)

  91. blindness? by jafac · · Score: 2

    What happens if the LCD screen blanks out? The astronaut will not be able to see through the screen, NOR will he or she be able to remove the glasses from his or her face.

    We better hope this is NOT run by WIndows, otherwise some poor astronaut is going to float off into space and suffocate with only a BSOD filling his field of view.

    --

    These are my friends, See how they glisten. See this one shine, how he smiles in the light.
  92. RTFA - Its a buddy system... by mge · · Score: 1

    It appears that this is a remote controlled scripting tool of some sort. There's a guy in the shuttle / Space station, who does all the keyboard work. The EVAer sees the appropriate page from the manual, some instructions (probably from the same manual) and a bunch of suit / bio-function monitoring icons.

    like I said, RTFA

    1. Re:RTFA - Its a buddy system... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Read the post before responding.

      And if the thing just displays data sent to it over the LAN, why bother with the HD at all?

      In other words, if it's for input, how does it work, and if not, the components don't seem to make sense.