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NASA Scientists Get Custom 24h39m-per-day Watches

Posted by timothy on 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?"

4 of 553 comments (clear)

  1. Useless, but... by Trillan · · 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.

  2. Didn't do what you suggested.... by Anonymous Coward · · 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...

  3. Re:do the right thing by DrInequality · · Score: 5, Funny

    That would be a sundial right?

    --
    DROS - Open-Source Robot Software
  4. Re:It's time for a non-Earth based time standard by ObviousGuy · · 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.