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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?"
NASA has a track record of that.
I remember the anecdote (or urban legend?) from the 60s that to write in space (normal pens depend on gravity to get the ink out, and don't work long upside-down!) they spent millions of dollars to develop a gravity-independent pen.
The Russians had the same problem. They decided to use a pencil when writing in space.
Wouter.
What a major waste. Yes, they should have Mars time watches, but it should be done by software - even the programmable Timex watches could have done it and the watch would still keep earth time. I guess some idiot manager is now telling people how important he is because of how big a budget he has.
I'm an American. I love this country and the freedoms that we used to have.
RolEx. I wish people pronounced things how they were spelt instead of spelling things however they pronounce them. =P
"Putting Linux on a watch is just silly"
.... Just think of it, a trillon dollar 'Man to Mars' mission on its way to Jupiter because somebody screwed up his conversion calculations.
There are quite a few reasons to put Linux in a watch. NASA could for example put a scanner and OCR engine in the Linux based watch so those braniacs at NASA could verify their Metric to English unit calculations with a flick of their wrist. And before you say 'BAH! Humbug!'
Only to idiots, are orders laws.
-- Henning von Tresckow
While it's better that taxpayer money gets spent on a redundant mechanical watch that is useless on Earth ( and can be implemented with half and hour's work in software as pointed out ), I suppose at least it's less money that goes directly into weapons of mass destruction. Of course the technology that gets developed in the aerospace industry is very handy in making said weapons. But to be politically correct, I can't accuse the US of making weapons of mass destruction. The US makes weapons of peace and understanding. They only become weapons of mass destruction when they are sold or given to 'the enemy' by the current president of the US, or at the least, his father.