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Computers in Space Examined

Posted by Zonk on from the that's-in-spaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaace dept.

Wil Harris writes "There's an article about the computers used in space missions over at bit-tech this morning. It covers the processor types and speeds, why space stations are less powerful than the laptops that astronauts take up with them and why tape storage is still de rigeur. An interesting and concise couple o' pages."

17 of 267 comments (clear)

  1. The Old Fashioned Way by ikkibr · · Score: 0, Funny

    That's why i'm staying with my old Pentium 99mhz ^^

    1. Re:The Old Fashioned Way by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

      That's why i'm staying with my old Pentium 99mhz ^^

      (Score: -0.9999999989898 Redundant)

  2. Computers in Space by AtariAmarok · · Score: 5, Funny
    "Open the pod bay doors, HAL!"

    Nuff said (but there's something to be said for the butlerian jihad, and Cmdr Adama filling his battlestar with rotary phones and manual typewriters!)

    --
    Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
  3. Re:K.I.S.S. by AtariAmarok · · Score: 4, Funny
    "The fewer components you have, the less likely you are to encounter a failure."

    Which is why the good old fashioned meteor, with one REALLY BIG moving part, is one of the most successful space vehicles ever. Ol' T-Rex can attest to its effectiveness.

    --
    Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
  4. Priorities by ravenspear · · Score: 4, Funny

    Cmdr Adama filling his battlestar with rotary phones and manual typewriters!

    Something tells me he should focus on adding a few more medics first.

    1. Re:Priorities by AtariAmarok · · Score: 2, Funny

      "Something tells me he should focus on adding a few more medics first." How about the medics of the Star Trek kind who can perform brain surgery and replace severed limbs with a few waves of a whistling chrome salt shaker?

      --
      Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
  5. Now show me by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny
    ' and Cmdr Adama filling his battlestar with rotary phones and manual typewriters!) '

    That is still too high tech. Tell me what Cylon attack can defeat a coal-fired Battlestar carrying swarms of pedal-powered Vipers crewed with low-IQ Forrest Gump clones? You can't dare have genius level brains which can be commandeered by the Cylons.

  6. Ouch... by thegamerformelyknown · · Score: 4, Funny

    The first manned space flight had a computer on board to control re-entry, but it was basic in the extreme - and locked so Comrade Gagarin couldn't tamper with it. An envelope with the code to unlock the computer was hidden somewhere in the capsule, and should an emergency arise, ground control would tell him where it was. Nice.

    Sounds nasty. I would at LEAST want to have some QUICK way of getting to it.

    Like a hammer :).

    --
    Foxed Design
    1. Re:Ouch... by minkie · · Score: 2, Funny

      There's an old joke about what the airplane cockpit of the future is going to look like. It's going to have a computer, a pilot, and a dog.

      The pilot is there to feed the dog.

      The dog is there to bite the pilot if he tries to touch the computer.

  7. You may be onto something by AtariAmarok · · Score: 4, Funny
    "If some smart application of physical processes were developed instead - something based on a large and almost limitless power supply"

    You may be onto something. The most limitless energy supply I can think of is found in my spam box right now. The Space Elevator can be made a reality, perhaps, with the propery application of zillions of doses of "lengthening enhancer"? Could the "energy boost" of the illicit HGH herb be applied to rocket thrust? Not only that, I think I can fund my own NASA if I answer every single one of the thousands of Nigerian princes who have been begging me to let them give me millions.

    --
    Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
  8. Re:Reminds me of a story I was told by wik · · Score: 4, Funny

    Pffft. Had they run been running NTP, they would have had the time.

    --
    / \
    \ / ASCII ribbon campaign for peace
    x
    / \
  9. Re:Tape?!?! by Planesdragon · · Score: 2, Funny

    It's just you.

    Or, more specifically, it's the crappy tape drive you used for backup.

  10. Overclocking in Space by aapold · · Score: 3, Funny

    I always wonder why you can't overclock the hell out of chips in the cold vaccuum of space...

    --
    "Waste not one watt!" - CZ
  11. Re:Engineering by cheekyboy · · Score: 2, Funny

    thats why nasa gets all their parts of ebay for $3 and charges the govt $20000.

    --
    Liberty freedom are no1, not dicks in suits.
  12. Re:K.I.S.S. by fireman+sam · · Score: 2, Funny

    I think that Ol' T-Rex can attest to the fact that the meteor was in fact a very bad vehicle. The driver could not even turn to avoid something as big as a planet.

    --
    it is only after a long journey that you know the strength of the horse.
  13. Sure, they need a fast computer for space by evillamer · · Score: 2, Funny

    running on Intel Pentium 4 Extreme Edition 840 Dual corebwith dual SLI Geforce 6800 Ultra 512MB and 4096MB of DDR2-533 memory to run Halflife 2 and Doom3 in space, and of course the latest edition of 3Dmark2005. I am sure those cosmonauts could use some 3D gaming entertainment while waiting for docking. ;)

  14. Re:Why the code was hidden... by mazarin5 · · Score: 4, Funny
    should an emergency arise, ground control would tell him where it was. Nice.

    The Soviets were afraid of a defection

    If I was hurtling towards the ground and couldn't control the capsule I was in, I might have a problem with defecation too.

    --
    Fnord.