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An Astronaut's View of Space Station Tech
An anonymous reader writes "Here's a chat with a NASA astronaut about how they fix system outages on board the International Space Station, what kind of computing tech they use on board, and how he would like to see the iPad used on the ISS." He talks about using 5 year old laptops because they had been tested to handle the stresses of space travel, as well as the importance of being able to read emails and send pictures to family while aboard a space station for months at a time.
One page version of the article.
Not that I bothered reading it.... if they are quoting astronauts advocating ipads, it is clearly just yet another propaganda piece pushing mindless consumption. Very few people will operate a computer in zero gravity, and whilst it is possible that no keyboard and being stuck in a closed playground could be good in space, I should think the ipad would suck as much as when on the ground.
"We use foot loops that allow us to park our feet - if you put a finger on the computer and you don't have something to restrain you, you can float away," Anderson said.
Apparently, this isn't just an Earthly problem. Some of my colleagues desperately need foot restraints to keep them from gravitating to the coffee break room.
He who knows best knows how little he knows. - Thomas Jefferson
On many occasions I have opted to use old technology over new because of reliability and also because I know exactly what I'm doing. In high stress situations you don't want to lose time trying to figure out a new application when an old one would have worked just fine.
Would the iPad orientation sensor get confused when used in zero g environment? Does it use gravity to determine which way is up? What about gps do you get wimpy gps readings when using a gps receiver in space?
Of course, by wimpy I mean, wonky. Damn iPhone autocorrect.
Ground control to Major Tom, defragging disk and antivirus on...
No kidding!!! What do you say at this point?
Except most civilian GPS chips don't work above 60 or 80k feet or so and definitely not at orbital velocities. I assume this is so you can't put your Tomtom in a SCUD missile.
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One of the biggest worries that we have with our computer system on board is malicious software and virus attacks," Anderson said.
I'm sad that astronauts are running windows... I thought for sure some type of HAL like AI was their OS on the freaking *space* station... or at least linux :P
check out the Mp3 Garbler I built!
The signal would be stronger (well, except for the walls of the ISS), but most consumer GPS chipsets are utterly confused at high altitudes and high ground speeds. No real reason it couldn't be made to work given suitable GPS firmware, but it won't work out of the box.
No, this is not true. We had a story here some time ago about how they've upgraded to the Lenovo T61p Thinkpad. 1680x1050, yeah! I know this because I have a T61. They're damn solid, and pretty contemporary—Core 2 Duos around 2.5 GHz.
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Well the big problem that sticks out in my mind is the fact that these are cheap crappy consumer versions of technology that's been well established in business and industry. While newer tech might be better and even touch screens might be better, they are kind of glossing over the whole "rugged" thing. This both includes the physical aspects of the product as well as how data and programs on it are managed.
There was a nice exchange in one of the Trek novels about this. Something about being able to break things down and fix them yourself when you're off in space all by yourself.
A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
3:55:01pm (Foursquare) AstroTom has checked in at Chicago's Miracle mile!
3:55:51pm (Foursquare) AstroTom has checked in at The Cleveland Zoo!
3:56:31pm (Foursquare) AstroTom has checked in at Times Square!
Ask early adopters of consoles. 360s had the red ring. Wii had dead pixels. PS3 probably had something, I don't keep up on that sector. I'm pretty sure they've all had disc read problems. It's all about the reliability. It might be nice to have a lightning fast laptop, but if it breaks, it's doubtful you're going to have the resources to fix it. If it's a brand new laptop, you're not going to know how it's likely to break. And since they're in space, you're really not going to know how it's likely to break.
if I had the choice between a 5 year well tested portable or a new gimmick.
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America, Home of the Brave.
An iPad, or any one-piece touchscreen tablet running a modern operating system with an absolute minimum of moving/removable parts would be ideally suited to the space station environment. Light, small, durable and very unlikely to break, it would be much better than anything with many small moving parts (laptop with a keyboard, e.g.), and it would have 100% solid state storage. What's with the hate?
The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources. - Albert Einstein
In 2001 A Space Odyssey, in the first scene onboard the Discovery when Bowman and Poole are having dinner, they're both watching a BBC broadcast on iPads!
Full size flat screen video tablets that look suspiciously like an iPad.
In 1968! That was 42 years ago!
Godaddy is a scam and a ripoff.
A few interesting things about GPS in space:
a) All GPS receivers capable of sensing a position higher than 11 miles or a velocity higher than 515 meters/sec are classified as munitions and require state department licenses to export... Pretty much no consumer GPS receiver, including the iPad is going to be able to find itself in orbit. OTOH, the Space Shuttle itself uses GPS for space navigation, and I'm sure the ISS has a GPS receiver on board as well that can find its own location.
b) The GPS satellites orbit at 20,000 km, while the ISS orbits at 350km... The strength of the signal isn't really all that affected.
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The computing hardware built into the ISS is not really something you want to be "upgrading" every few years. The "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" principle applies here: The hardware is running multiple systems critical to life. If it works fine now, don't mess with it and expose yourself to the possibility of the new system having bugs which could kill people.
Less critical functions can be run on a portable computing device like a laptop. These can be upgraded more frequently since they don't have to be tested as thoroughly as the mission-critical systems are. Due to the fast pace at which computing technology improves, this frequently results in situations where the portable computing device is more powerful than the built-in systems. On many early shuttle flights, the most powerful computer on board was the HP-41 calculator.
I'm typing this on a 5-year-old laptop with a 5-year-old installation of XP on it. I've had to add RAM and replace the battery and swap out the charger a few times, but otherwise this thing still runs great. You just have to actually take care of your equipment.
It's this kind of unprovoked, snarky assholery that I absolutely hate. GP didn't say anything inflammatory or ignorant, but you (and a few mods, as it seems) think it's acceptable to flame his post. Why?
They'd weigh the same? A laptop can be closed to protect it when it inevitably floats off one day?
Yeah, they'd weigh the same, but they definitely aren't used the same. I would think the ipad (or any tablet) would be more convenient than a laptop since it is designed to be used with one hand while holding it with the other. Laptops most likely need to be fastened to the ISS in some way in order to type on them. You can't simply use a laptop while floating in zero-g as it'd need a force to counter the force of your typing. If the astronauts were to have tablets instead, then they could take notes (or whatever astronauts do on the ISS) from any orientation.
Absolutely. The ISS doesn't have any computers built into it, and all flight computing, life support control, etc. is done on the same computers that the astronauts use for their email, so computational power is paramount.
Does this sentence have a point? Are you implying that GP thinks the ISS...? I don't know what you're implying! Your audience shouldn't have to decipher your patronizing sarcasm to understand your argument.
Don't be a jerk.
I assume this is so you can't put your Tomtom in a SCUD missile.
Right, because everyone wants a SCUD that's constantly making U-turns and going down dead-end streets!
I remember reading about an interview with one astronaut, who said that the most spectacular sight he saw in outer space was when his urine was ejected from the capsule. It immediately froze, crystallized and exploded, and was brilliantly illuminated by the sunlight.
I tried to google for this reference, but only came up with this: http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/090911-space-water-dump.html
It's nice to see that astronauts use their precious bodily fluids to entertain stargazers.
Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
b) The GPS satellites orbit at 20,000 km, while the ISS orbits at 350km... The strength of the signal isn't really all that affected.
Given a constant medium, sure, that would be correct. On the other hand, going just 2 meters underground will weaken the signal more than your entire 20,000 km range.
Not to say that you're wrong - I'm not sure how much more signal degradation you get due to atmosphere vs in a vacuum - but it's not as simple as you're making it sound.
Me: "TomTom, course to Orbit Earth"
...Turn Left,
...Turn Left,
TomTom:Turn Left,
- Dan.
~ People that think they are better than anyone else for any reason are the cause of all the strife in the world.
I understand how they like the reliability of the old machines, but it just seems like we should send them up there with only the best technologies as to optimize production.
Seems to me that you'd wanna supply them with the best tool for the job. In an environment like the ISS the best tool would be a very reliable tool.
Optimizing production up there means making sure it works, always and forever. Since you can't simply replace broken stuff it's either full production or none..
Life starts at the end of your comfort zone.
I'm not sure durable and iPad belong in the same sentence without a negative, you are looking for something more like this: http://www.ruggedtabletpc.com/
But... the future refused to change.