NASA Scientists Get Custom 24h39m-per-day Watches

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NASA Scientists Get Custom 24h39m-per-day Watches

Posted by timothy on Monday January 12, 2004 @07:18PM from the private-sale-or-tax-money-I-wonder dept.

blair1q writes "In order to more easily keep solar time on Mars, (or maybe just as a lark) JPL has ordered specially-modified mechanical watches for the Mars Exploration Rover Mission. One wonders why these literal rocket scientists didn't just get a software programmable Linux or PalmOS based wrist-computer and hack together a Mars-time display application into it?"

13 of 553 comments (clear)

Useless, but... by Trillan · 2004-01-12 19:20 · Score: 5, Funny

Totally, completely useless. A complete waste of money.

When will they be available to the public? And how much? I want one.
1. Re:Useless, but... by djupedal · 2004-01-12 19:28 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  My money says at least one will be on eBay before the end of the week...
  Your tax $$ at work.
2. Re:Useless, but... by Trillan · 2004-01-12 19:32 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  How's it go?
  
  As a Martian, I for one welcome our new Earthling overlords!
Didn't do what you suggested.... by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-12 19:20 · Score: 5, Funny

Because its faster strapping on a watch that works already rather than spending a bunch of hours making the linux solution work...
Puh! by The_Rippa · 2004-01-12 19:20 · Score: 4, Funny

The Rolax I pickup up on Market Street does that already!
1. Re:Puh! by jdaily · 2004-01-13 04:22 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  Found in my local permanent fleamarket: Coppertop batteries under the brand names "Dinacell" and "Duraking", both made in (surprise) China.
  
  Duraking apparently employs someone who knows English. Dinacell isn't so lucky:
  
  "No mercury added... Helps protect our enviroment"
  "Dinacell Battrbies"
  "Do not charge the batter that hasn't been used up or throw it into fire"
  "Do not use it with common (carbolic) batter."
  "According to the use way of equipments to install the batter."
  
  And my favorite:
  "Do not decompose the batter."
  
  I bought a package of each for posterity.
Great! by mandalayx · 2004-01-12 19:21 · Score: 4, Funny

Great!

Now I just need a watch to keep track of that other irregular period :)

*duck*
1. Re:Great! by dbirchall · 2004-01-12 20:09 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  That sounds like a great idea... but... how will the watch know when Longhorn is really going to be released?
Survey says... by djupedal · 2004-01-12 19:23 · Score: 4, Funny

One wonders why these literal rocket scientists didn't just...
Two wonder why these literal rocket scientists need to know what time it is here anyhow...
Three wonder why these literal rocket scientists don't just have really big clocks on the wall, like at the airport...
And four of us want to know why they can't just hire a booth babe to walk around and tell them what time it is... :)
Re:do the right thing by DrInequality · 2004-01-12 19:28 · Score: 5, Funny

That would be a sundial right?

--
DROS - Open-Source Robot Software
Re:It's time for a non-Earth based time standard by krusadr · 2004-01-12 19:33 · Score: 4, Funny

I've heard that the European Union is soon going to pass a new harmonisation order forcing everyone to adopt metric time. For the early adopters out there, it's going to be announced in exactly one month, 7 weeks, 9 days, 42 hours and 88 minutes.

--
while sco {
wget -O /dev/null http://www.sco.com?sco=litigious%20bastards
}
Re:It's time for a non-Earth based time standard by ObviousGuy · 2004-01-12 19:41 · Score: 5, Funny

Well, if we count backwards the generations from now until the creation of Adam, I think we can safely set the 0:00:00 date to about 6,000 years ago (left as an excercise for the reader).

I'm still wondering how they will account for such things as time standing still for Joshua.

--
I have been pwned because my /. password was too easy to guess.
It's all simple politics... by i8a4re · 2004-01-13 01:43 · Score: 3, Funny

Since this is a government agency, they have to seek out bidders and give everyone an equal opprotunity to produce this custom watch. The bidder who can make the most complicated watch with the most parts made in the most congressional districts and states and initially within budget gets the contract. Nasa spends more money, but evenly distributes amongst congressional districts. This makes congress happy and Nasa gets more moeny to spend on overpriced, useless shit.

--

If I drive fast enough at the red light, it'll appear green.