NASA uses the most advancded technology ever.....

[SteveC]

Did any of you know how advanced the technology is that NASA and the military use?

Well, take the the Hubble telescope repair mission. The Shuttle Discovery that took the peeps up there uses The Space Shuttle has an onboard computer with the power of a 48SX HP calculator, and the astronauts take on board an HP 48SX pre-programmed with the Shuttle's flight plan, in case of navigation failures with the onboard computer. This HP model has a serial port and 64K of memory... The Hubble telescope itself, as well as getting the gyros fixed, got an upgrade from a 386 to a 486 processor for its main operations...

Cool eh?

------------------
Cheers,
Steve

"The chances of anything coming from Mars, are a million-to-one", he said.

[Maggi]

ROFLMAO !!!

Nice one Stevie !!!

[Jorden]

Ah, but are they Millennium proof??

The fori aren't I guess... what's this??
"Forum: Gen eral Hardware"

Gen eral???

Jord.

[paulcs]

Intel Pop Gun Inside!

I work with a woman whose Astronomer husband is a Hubble user. I can probably find out what's up with the Space Age technology. You'd think they'd at least be able to get a Pentium Overdrive processor in there. Maybe they just don't need it. Got to cut costs somewhere.

Paul
paulcs@flashcom.net

[Wombat]

The reason is that they've had the time to test out all of this hardware. Hubble doesn't need anything more than the 486's, and NASA has spent YEARS doing things like radiation testing on the chips, to make sure that they will perform under severe conditions.
If a 486 (well, 3 of them, actually) performs to their needs, and they can count on it for stability, then let them do it. In case you haven't noticed, it's a real bitch to get up there and hit the reset button.

[Jammrock]

Tell me about it. Last time NASA sent me up to hit the reset button on the Hubble it tooks 2 weeks.

Jammrock

------------------
PIII 450@504, 256 MB RAM, 35 GB total w/ WD Experts, Abit UDMA 66 controller, CL 6x DVD, PLEXTOR 8x4x32 ATAPI CD-RW (my newest toy), G400 32 MB DH, SB Live! w/ Digital I/O, LinkSys Etherfast 10/100, DSI 56k modem, Addtronics 6896A Case w/ a crap load of fans and Dynmat noise dampening, MAG DX715T monitor.

Hi, my name is Jammrock. I'm a computer phreak and an EverCrack addict.

[Jorden]

Okay, so what about cooling the 486 then?? I'm sure in the direct rays of the sun it'll boil inside Hubble... What coolers do they use to cool the chips??

[Nuno]

Jorden, that´s a very good question, considering that in space there is no air. So fan shouldn´t be useful at all. (or is the Hubble presurized?)

Other thing for them to have chosen a 486 must have been power consumption. I wonder how many hours an Athlon could be on before it draws all the power of the Hubble...

[cjolley]

It was even worse. I think when the shuttle first flew it used magnetic donut computers. The good news was that you could drop one off of a building and it would still work.
chuck

PS No, the Hubble is not pressurized.

[This message has been edited by cjolley (edited 28 December 1999).]

[Aurel]

In the direct rays of the sun it might be, but that counts for radiation.
Isn't it rather cold in space ?
I think they actually needed something to worm them

[Nuno]

Yes, in space the temperature is close to absolute zero, isn´t it?

Maybe Greebe should donate his athlon to NASA to see how much it overclock in space

[LAMFDTK]

That was the best they could find on E-Bay

[Aurel]

An "Overclocker Summer Camp" on the Moon would be nice !

[Jorden]

Nuno: When in the direct rays of the sun, it's quite hot up there. When in the shadow of the Earth, it's bitter cold...

Aurel, or Andrei, how does it feel being a mini-MURCer again?? Bitter cold... mini... <ahem>

Jorden.

[Aurel]

At least it doesn't have that feminine conotation anymore. (ette)

[This message has been edited by Aurel (edited 28 December 1999).]