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What's Inside the Mars Rovers

Posted by michael on from the remote-root dept.

Captain Zion writes "Space.com has a story about the hardware and software of Mars Rovers Spirit and Opportunity. Basically, they're radiation-shielded, 20MHz PowerPC machines wirh 128Mb RAM and 256Mb of flash memory, running VxWorks. I wonder if I could make a nice firewall with one of these for my home network..."

24 of 458 comments (clear)

  1. What's the bus speed on that thing? by }InFuZeD{ · · Score: 3, Funny

    Does a 20mhz processor really need 128mb of ram? I mean, with a bus speed that low, you can probably put the data to flash ROM just as fast. What are the chances of you using all 128mb of ram?

    1. Re:What's the bus speed on that thing? by GoofyBoy · · Score: 5, Funny

      >What are the chances of you using all 128mb of ram?

      Ask Bill Gates.

      --
      The surprise isn't how often we make bad choices; the surprise is how seldom they defeat us.
    2. Re:What's the bus speed on that thing? by 3waygeek · · Score: 5, Funny

      In other words, the Spirit is willing, but the flash is weak.

  2. What's inside the rover? by Chilltowner · · Score: 5, Funny

    Darn. Interesting articles, but I was hoping that inside it was filled with creamy nougat center. Oh, wait. I'm thinking Mars bar. Nevermind.

  3. Self-warming by Faust7 · · Score: 5, Funny

    To survive the frigid Martian night, MER computers are housed in warm electronics boxed heated by a combination of electric heaters, eight radioisotope heater units as well as the natural warmth from the electronics themselves.

    Just leave off the heatsinks and fans, and everything should be fine.

    --
    The coolest voice ever.
    1. Re:Self-warming by Zog+The+Undeniable · · Score: 5, Funny

      If only they'd used an Athlon, the planet would have been habitable in Bermuda shorts by the end of the week.

      --
      When I am king, you will be first against the wall.
  4. If you've got money to burn, sure by Powercntrl · · Score: 4, Funny

    But I'd take a Linksys over a hacked Mars Rover anyday... Billions cheaper, ya know.

    --

    ---
    DRM is like antifreeze, to the MPAA/RIAA it's sweet, to the consumers it's poison.
  5. Just image... by F4Codec · · Score: 0, Funny

    ... A beowulf cluster of those - does 2 make for a cluster, and did they bring a big enough piece of cable, or do you suppose Wifi would work.

    What would Beagle have run had it run?

  6. A nice Firewall? by blorg · · Score: 5, Funny

    "I wonder if I could make a nice firewall with one of these for my home network..."

    You could, but the latency would be a bitch.

  7. Well... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Basically, they're radiation-shielded, 20MHz PowerPC machines wirh 128Mb RAM and 256Mb of flash memory,

    I don't think anyone would want a Beowulf cluster of those things.

  8. Re:Radiation Shielding by pi+eater · · Score: 5, Funny

    A modded alienware case perhaps?

    geeky stuff.. offensive stuff!

  9. Internet conneciton by vpscolo · · Score: 4, Funny

    And it can still send back at 128 kbits/sec which is faster than my connection can managed. Just waiting for it to start getting spam advertising pr0n and viagra.

    Spirit Rover: Staying up longer and harder

    Rus

    --
    CPanel + Root from $35/mo - 10% off with discount code SLASHDOT
  10. Something strange... by J.+Charles+Holt · · Score: 2, Funny

    I noticed something odd in the latest shots from the Rover. Just on the horizon:

    http://idisk.mac.com/charlesholt/public/DuckDodg er s.jpg

  11. Mac users.. by JayPee · · Score: 3, Funny

    You know what's annoying about this story now that it's making the roungs.

    Mac users everywhere take this as "Oooohh.. there's a Mac inside of those things!" "There are Macs on Mars!" Bleah.

    And before you mod me down, realize that I'm an unrepentant Mac user and an Apple Authorized Service Tech.

  12. To take care of Rover's heating problem... by notetoi · · Score: 1, Funny

    they should have used an AMD processor. Heck, a couple of AMD processors would be more than enough to raise Mars' temperature to room temperature.

  13. Monopoly issues? by sammyo · · Score: 3, Funny

    Shouldn't each rover be required to have a different OS? I mean this must just quash the Martian software industry.

  14. Ask Slashdot? by snake_dad · · Score: 3, Funny
    While JPL scientists have expressed confidence they can overcome the problem, possibly in a matter of weeks, the hardware and software manufactures behind the computer system are more than ready to help.

    "If they ask, we come," Blackman said, echoing the enthusiasm of BAE officials. "I think when something like this happens, the whole community responds to it."

    Maybe they should put up an image of the data, the diagrams of the systemboard, and descriptions of the symptoms, and submit it to Ask Slashdot. I'm sure there are a couple of VxWorks experts here who'd love to take a crack at this :)

    --
    karma capped .sig seeking available Slashdot poster for long-term relationship.
  15. Had to remove some parts... by mnemotronic · · Score: 2, Funny

    It's some Ok hardware, given the source (primative carbon-based species). We removed the antennas & cameras, and turned it into a coffee table. The CPU was slower than most MDAs (martianal data assistants), but provided us with a laugh. Junior ate the instrument package before we could stop him. Naughty grzybfyx!
    Thanks.

    Sincerely, Marvin & Family

    --
    The Russians have won. They have made the world a cesspool of distrust, greed, fear and hate.
  16. Re:memory overflow caused Spirit shutdown? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    A leading hypothesis is that flash memory overflow caused Spirit to be shut down for two weeks.

    Yeah - everything was going fine until the rover contacted Microsoft for its weekly update and choked on all the security patches.

  17. Re:Beagle-2 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Yeah Linux worked out REAL well for them. :P

  18. make a firewall? by SilverGiant · · Score: 3, Funny

    .

    "I wonder if I could make a nice firewall with one of these for my home network..."

    1. build computer
    2. drop off on mars on way to grocery
    3. laugh in face of hacking
    4. reconsider when computer mistaken by rover for new type of rock, drilled for mineral content

  19. I thought... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    "Besides, everyone knows that what makes a Mac a Mac is the operating system."

    I thought it was the price that made a Mac a Mac...

  20. Re:Wait a second... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    Don't you mean you need to benchmark in out of this world applications.

  21. Re:20 MHz is not enough by Ignorant+Aardvark · · Score: 2, Funny

    My 25Mhz Macintosh LC III is enough to host a webserver running Linux & Apache.

    Post a link to your website and then we'll reconsider your statement ...

    --
    Cyde Weys Musings - Scrutinizing the inscrutable