NASA glitch


Why does a date error still exist in the shuttle?
Over the last couple of days, I've spent more hours glued to a tech support line than I've spent on actual work. It's helped me see just how insecure Windows XP is, especially for someone trying to manage a network. But as bad as that is, NASA has it worse.

The worry is that shuttle computers aren't designed to make the change from the 365th day of the old year to the first day of the new year while in flight. NASA has never had a shuttle in space Dec. 31 or Jan. 1.

"We've just never had the computers up and going when we've transitioned from one year to another," said Discovery astronaut Joan Higginbotham. "We're not really sure how they're going to operate."

Starting Dec. 6, launch opportunities would be available as late as Dec. 17 or 18. With a 12-day mission, that would mean the shuttle is back on Earth before New Year's Eve.

However, NASA was quick to say that even if the shuttle crew finds itself still in space on Jan. 1, procedures could be devised to make a transition if necessary.

I knew that some of the computer equipment on the shuttle fleet was 1970s vintage, but this is just plain silly. In the 25 years since the first shuttle flight, look at how far computers have advanced in everything from home thermostats to cars to pocket calculators to digital cameras to microwave ovens. Granted, NASA needs higher reliability than the average home PC and can't risk a "blue screen of death," but even so.

Mass production and the free market would not allow such an obvious flaw for very long. Now I know that there aren't that many who can drop a few billion on a space vehicle, but scale it down for just a minute. Just think of the number of add-ons in both software and hardware that the average home computer gets, most of which are fairly reliable. Think of the after-OEM market for automobiles, especially high-end performance cars, where you can even get a chip that will tweak your fuel-air mixture for maximum performance. Think of the same market for aircraft.

The free market pushes the technological edge, it always has.

— NeoWayland

Posted: Sun - November 12, 2006 at 01:53 PM  Tag


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