Actually you can buy it; it's just not mainstream. You need to look at embedded architecture boards used in industrial applications. You'll find boards and Pentium M's in various form factors.
most heavily-optimized-for-PI-computation processors
why bother optimizing to compute it... just store it internally out to 128 digits and when the processor identifies someone trying to compute Pi, spit out the stored value. Done.
Except that they're running VxWorks on the rover, Solaris on the command consoles and Irix on the imaging systems. All of which are licensed derivatives of Unix.
By the time our astronauts got to Mars, they'd be dead(or near it) of radiation poisoning alone. We lack the technology to shield them from deep space radiation effectively enough for them to survive
Not true. All you need to do is surround them with a couple feet of water. Surround the habitation module with a big tank -- you'll need the water for the trip anyway...
It's not all that common to need to reboot spacecraft; but, it does happen (usually because of radiation induced errors or a bad command sequence put it into a "bad" state). Usually, you can send it a reset command. Eventually if there's no communication with home, a watchdog timer will activate a reset. Once that happens it'll actively start trying to contact us.
replacement of Silicon for solar collectors. They are doing a good job with replacements for it in Computers.
Ummm, no. They're not replacing it. They're using different crystaline structures, dopants, and conductors; but, they're still using silicone. The most viable alternative for solar collectors is gallium-arsenide; but, I suspect arsenic sludge isn't what you're looking for.
how do you know the moon is sterile.
What part of "complete vacuum of space" and "constant bombardment by high levels of radiation from the Sun" did you not understand. I don't need to be a biologist to know this precludes the possiblity of life.
deep below the surface
you mean in the rock? We have done radar surveys, from the surface of the Earth, of the moon using ground penetrating radars. At this distance the resolution sucks; but, I can tell you there's no ocean of water floating around in a subterrainian cavern...
Coldfusion is a bit of a pipe dream
It's thermodynamically impossible. It's fundamental laws of physics stuff -- oh yeah, you don't believe in the laws of physics.
spend all that money getting shit from other planets
There's a lot of stuff out there that's just not available here. I believe the article was about He3. The entire Earth's supply of He3 is less than 225kg (500lbs). It's beyond rare. The moon has an estimated 1.1Million Tons of He3 sitting right on the surface. The Sun spews it out in large quantities, so it's effectively a renewable resource; but, it doesn't make it through our atmosphere. Imagine the fundamental ways our lives would change if we could have unlimited power available from a generator that doesn't produce any pollution or radiation.
Now I pose the question to you: Do you think that there's anything else out there, that maybe we don't have here, that might be useful?
think that we have fucked up our own planet enough
Ahhh, but we've only just begun...
we have no real idea about the moon or mars or any of the other planets as far what could be living on there
Ummmm, The moon is sterile. We're pretty sure (I'd say around 100%) of that. Maybe it has something to do with the constant bombardment with high levels of radiation from the Sun... Maybe.
using solar power. It is free and it does not requre the need to blow holes in anything
Actually, it's quite expensive to build a solar plant. And you do have to blow lots of holes in the ground to get the Silicon used to make solar collectors. Oh yeah, and the processing uses lots of "evil" chemicals...
And then there is Coldfusion
Ahhhh, if only it were true... Yet, no one has yet been able to reproduce any of the experimental results claimed.
Yes, YOU are confused. It's an all volunteer military force who are putting their lives on the line to defend the United States and protect your freedom.
Irregardless of what the current policy being generated by the Executive branch might be, (whether you agree with it or not), you owe those folks your thanks!
One summer, I worked in a stable, literally shoveling s*** all day. It was a large concrete block structure with a tin roof. On hot days it would easily top 130 degrees inside the stable -- too hot for the horses; but, Noooo, I had to work.
My job was to shovel the s*** and the old, wet (use your imagination) bedding into a wheel-barrow, then push said wheel-barrow outside, up the hill (a literal pile of old, decaying(-ed) horse s***) and dump the contents.
If that won't teach you the value of higher education, nothing will!
The only way we'll have all the answers is to send up a team with some (live) geologists and full kit... But, that's probably 30-50 years away realistically.
Re:What is the point of this all?
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News from Mars
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The ESA mission has a higher resolution camera. It also includes ground penetrating radar, which the other's didn't carry along with them...
Each mission adds a little something by improving on the measurements made by the previous ones...
A "standard RGB style camera" would a.) have the same problems; although they usually have the color correction built into the firmware b.) would fail because of the extreme conditions (cold, radiation, 10+G acceleration loads,...)
No, basically it'll freeze solid (batteries included). The cold will damage pretty much everything. Although, it wouldn't hurt to try and bounce a radio signal off of it next "Spring" to see if anything survived.
Opportunity was much more sophisticated than Beagle.
During the decent, there was no communications with Beagle. They simply expected it to send back a "We're there" signal once it was all over. Opportunity was sending back telemetry to JPL for most of the decent phase.
Beagle was not able to dynamically adjust it's decent -- it was pre-programmed. Opportunity was dynamically adjusting it's decent as it went. That's why they didn't get the parachute deployment or tether cut when the expected on Opportunity: The computer(s) on Opportunity were fine-tuning the decent based on feedback from it's sensors. It decided to wait on the parachute. Then once it was close to the ground, there was a sudden wind gust and it corrected for that before cutting the tether.
Probably cost. Nuclear would have made the rovers heavier and the hardware cost more. These guys (Opportunity and Spirit) were designed under the smaller, faster, cheaper plan...
Slashdot Mirror
Actually you can buy it; it's just not mainstream. You need to look at embedded architecture boards used in industrial applications. You'll find boards and Pentium M's in various form factors.
why bother optimizing to compute it... just store it internally out to 128 digits and when the processor identifies someone trying to compute Pi, spit out the stored value. Done.
I'm gonna convert to Power PC machines. RISC. Mmmmmm RISC is good...
command: roll forward 1 meter result: discover the smooth looking sand is the Mars equivalent of quicksand...
Except that they're running VxWorks on the rover, Solaris on the command consoles and Irix on the imaging systems. All of which are licensed derivatives of Unix.
Not true. All you need to do is surround them with a couple feet of water. Surround the habitation module with a big tank -- you'll need the water for the trip anyway...
It's not all that common to need to reboot spacecraft; but, it does happen (usually because of radiation induced errors or a bad command sequence put it into a "bad" state). Usually, you can send it a reset command. Eventually if there's no communication with home, a watchdog timer will activate a reset. Once that happens it'll actively start trying to contact us.
Ummm, no. They're not replacing it. They're using different crystaline structures, dopants, and conductors; but, they're still using silicone. The most viable alternative for solar collectors is gallium-arsenide; but, I suspect arsenic sludge isn't what you're looking for.
how do you know the moon is sterile.
What part of "complete vacuum of space" and "constant bombardment by high levels of radiation from the Sun" did you not understand. I don't need to be a biologist to know this precludes the possiblity of life.
deep below the surface
you mean in the rock? We have done radar surveys, from the surface of the Earth, of the moon using ground penetrating radars. At this distance the resolution sucks; but, I can tell you there's no ocean of water floating around in a subterrainian cavern...
Coldfusion is a bit of a pipe dream
It's thermodynamically impossible. It's fundamental laws of physics stuff -- oh yeah, you don't believe in the laws of physics.
spend all that money getting shit from other planets
There's a lot of stuff out there that's just not available here. I believe the article was about He3. The entire Earth's supply of He3 is less than 225kg (500lbs). It's beyond rare. The moon has an estimated 1.1Million Tons of He3 sitting right on the surface. The Sun spews it out in large quantities, so it's effectively a renewable resource; but, it doesn't make it through our atmosphere. Imagine the fundamental ways our lives would change if we could have unlimited power available from a generator that doesn't produce any pollution or radiation.
Now I pose the question to you: Do you think that there's anything else out there, that maybe we don't have here, that might be useful?
think that we have fucked up our own planet enough
Ahhh, but we've only just begun...
we have no real idea about the moon or mars or any of the other planets as far what could be living on there
Ummmm, The moon is sterile. We're pretty sure (I'd say around 100%) of that. Maybe it has something to do with the constant bombardment with high levels of radiation from the Sun... Maybe.
using solar power. It is free and it does not requre the need to blow holes in anything
Actually, it's quite expensive to build a solar plant. And you do have to blow lots of holes in the ground to get the Silicon used to make solar collectors. Oh yeah, and the processing uses lots of "evil" chemicals...
And then there is Coldfusion
Ahhhh, if only it were true... Yet, no one has yet been able to reproduce any of the experimental results claimed.
Irregardless of what the current policy being generated by the Executive branch might be, (whether you agree with it or not), you owe those folks your thanks!
We owe those folks a lot.
My job was to shovel the s*** and the old, wet (use your imagination) bedding into a wheel-barrow, then push said wheel-barrow outside, up the hill (a literal pile of old, decaying(-ed) horse s***) and dump the contents.
If that won't teach you the value of higher education, nothing will!
That would assume you're seeing thos gale force winds at 63,000 feet, above the troposphere.
The only way we'll have all the answers is to send up a team with some (live) geologists and full kit... But, that's probably 30-50 years away realistically.
Each mission adds a little something by improving on the measurements made by the previous ones...
A "standard RGB style camera" would a.) have the same problems; although they usually have the color correction built into the firmware b.) would fail because of the extreme conditions (cold, radiation, 10+G acceleration loads, ...)
The capacity to analyse something unusual (read unexpected) and interesting in more detail.
It'd also be nice if we could send up an engineer to do some trouble shooting when it fails. But that ain't gonna happen either...
Spirit! Spirit! Spirit! Damn it I did it again. It's the rover Spirit not Opportunity. That one doesn't get there until the 24th...
the front and rear wheels toe inward 45 degrees and it spins about it's axis. It's not just 4-wheel drive, it's 4-wheel steering!
Next time... There are 10kW space rated reactors in the queue.
No, basically it'll freeze solid (batteries included). The cold will damage pretty much everything. Although, it wouldn't hurt to try and bounce a radio signal off of it next "Spring" to see if anything survived.
During the decent, there was no communications with Beagle. They simply expected it to send back a "We're there" signal once it was all over. Opportunity was sending back telemetry to JPL for most of the decent phase.
Beagle was not able to dynamically adjust it's decent -- it was pre-programmed. Opportunity was dynamically adjusting it's decent as it went. That's why they didn't get the parachute deployment or tether cut when the expected on Opportunity: The computer(s) on Opportunity were fine-tuning the decent based on feedback from it's sensors. It decided to wait on the parachute. Then once it was close to the ground, there was a sudden wind gust and it corrected for that before cutting the tether.
While that's true in autonomous mode, currently their totally in manual mode.
Probably cost. Nuclear would have made the rovers heavier and the hardware cost more. These guys (Opportunity and Spirit) were designed under the smaller, faster, cheaper plan...