NASA Scientists Get Custom 24h39m-per-day Watches

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?"

Comments

This IS a hack

[Simon Garlick]

And, as a layman knowing nothing about the intricacies of a 100%-mechanical wristwatch, it sounds like a frickin' impressive one.

Mad props to Mr. Anserlian!

No, one does not

[Sivar]

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?"

It is always such a relief to know that Slashdot readers know more about Astronauts should do and use than NASA engineers.
Maybe that was a bit harsh, but have you ever seen a sophisticated piece of consume electronics, such as a Palm Pilot or laptop, taken along with astronauts on their missions?
Electronics in space have to be able to handle conditions that your favorite PDA engineers did not exactly have in mind--even on an astronauts wrist. Notice that the watch is not even digital, and that if you think about it, it is probably not because the Engineers didn't read The Hitchhiker's Guide.

Why you ask?

[ByronEllis]

I'll tell you why they got mechanical watches and didn't hack up a Linux watch:

1. Generally speaking digital watches are fugly. There's no Movado Digital Watch for a reason.

2. Commitment. This watch will ALWAYS run ~24h39m. You can give it to your grandkids. Your crap-ass programmable digital watch won't make it that far. Also, it can be made back into a 24h watch. There are no digital watch family heirlooms.

3. A mechanical watch is a thing of craftsmanship and beauty. A watch running Windows or Linux is cute for maybe 10 minutes then its a watch that does so many other things that they forgot the "tells time" part.

Re:Anymore Information?

[CrankyFool]

I can't clarify this, but I had an interesting experience a year or two ago that might be relevant.

The long version is written up here . The short version is: A handicapped friend had an unusual and extraordinary need. We met up with a master gunsmith who was so fascinated by this new challenge he'd never had before that he swept us to the head of the line despite having weeks of backlog and spent a weekend machining this unique one-off item for us. Oh and then, because "you couldn't afford to pay what this actually cost," refused to accept money for it.

We're (pretty much) all geeks here. We're all attracted to that challenge, to that thing we've never done before. I know I'm much more likely to do something for free (or at least below market rates) if it's interesting and unusual than if it's yet another damned system administration task. I know I'm not alone in our field, and my experience suggests that masters of the more mechanical arts are often similar in their attraction to the unusual job. Especially given the small number of people who'd be worthy of having such a watch, and the fact that this isn't being asked for for-profit, I would't be surprised if this guy cut them a break on it if NASA wasn't paying.

What about calendars?

[Ashtead]

This is cool. The geek-factor on this is very high! And having worked on some projects where they kept giving away all sorts of neat items (laser pointer, watch, various T-shirts...) I can see how this fits in well with the project. Though unless you are working with something happening on Mars, it might be a little less than practical, but as we know, that hasn't stopped anyone before.

Now, with the Mars day being slightly longer than the Earth day and there are watches to match this, how do they reckon the days there? Here on Earth there is the system of Julian Days, which serves well for Earth-bound day-counting and marking dates of interesting events. This, like the UTC clock, seems to be very Earth-centric.

So are anyone contemplating a Martian calendar, or some kind of linear numbering of Mars Days, so there will be a logical date for when the various Rovers and others have landed, and other interesting events?

For all I know, such a calendar may already exist, but all I have seen of it has been various science-fiction books.

Re:Linux watches?!

[Fnkmaster]

Because software geeks think everything needs to be solved in software? Because when you have a shiny new hammer everything starts looking like a nail?

Not to knock Linux or anything, but if the problem statement is "I want a watch to keep track of Martian time on my wrist wherever I go", the answer is a custom circuit in a digital watch (probably an extra capacitor or two), or a slightly larger gear in a mechanical watch. I think it's pretty obvious that you can write a Javascript Mars clock for your computer in about 5 minutes. I'd like to assume that NASA already came up with that idea.

Other ideas for Martian timekeeping...

[SRCShelton]

I've always thought the system proposed by (Kim Stanley Robinson) in the Mars Trilogy books was kinda neat:

All clocks stop at midnight, wait 40 minutes, then tick over to 00:01

(Yes, there are practicality and "yes, but *WHAT'S the TIME*??!?" issues, but I still reckon it'd be cool)

Re:Didn't do what you suggested....

[jacobcaz]

Because its faster strapping on a watch that works already rather than spending a bunch of hours making the linux solution work...

Forget faster, it's much more elegant. I would take a mechnical watch over a digital, PDA-on-my-arm miracle of technology anyday. I enjoy my mechnical watches, the precision that went into their design.

A good watch is a thing that tickles geeks because it's intricate, precise, mathematical and interesting. You deal with gears and springs in the watchworks....

I have a crystal-backed watch, you can see the mechanism running and it's simply beautiful to watch it as it winds down, ticking off the time in the process.