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Computer Date Glitch May Limit Next Shuttle Launch
n3hat writes "Reuters reports that the next Space Shuttle mission may have to be deferred if it gets too close to the New Year because the onboard computers do not handle the changing of the date in the same way as the ground computers. From the article: '"The shuttle computers were never envisioned to fly through a year-end changeover," space shuttle program manager Wayne Hale told a briefing. The problem, according to Hale, is that the shuttle's computers do not reset to day one, as ground-based systems that support shuttle navigation do. Instead, after December 31, the 365th day of the year, shuttle computers figure January 1 is just day 366."
How lame is that? Millions of dollars put into a shuttle and it can't even interpret the date correctly. Might as well just plug in my cell phone.
Is it no surprise?! And he we are planning a trip to Mars. What the hell are those poor lab rats of astrtonauts going to do in the middle of space on a trip that takes several months, and January 1st rolls around? Maybe they could pull into that spacecraft garage on the corner of Deimos and Phobos. I did get a chuckle about plugging in the cellphone. I mean, hell, if a lousy machine the size of a pack of cigarettes can do it...