Space station computers pass final test, Atlantis to come home
By Nilay Patel 
posted Jun 19th 2007 10:31AM
posted Jun 19th 2007 10:31AM
posted Jun 19th 2007 10:31AM
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I heard one of the Russians spilled his coffee on the keyboard.
Did not see anything on the hardware, but according to this article, they use Linux as the operating system, no word on what Distro, if it is a mainstream one.
http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/3024
Just read the LJ article: the station sync soft runs on Slack, and the ground program on SuSe... nice ;) i run ubuntu tho' (lazy ass user)
The systems mentioned in that article only control the docking for the ATV (Automated Transfer Vehicle, a.k.a. the SPACE GARBAGE TRUCK). Half the software was written for Solaris and ported to Linux. Oh and by the way the ATV hasn't even FLOWN yet; it won't until 2008.
That article (from March 1999!) makes it sound a bit like the ISS runs on Linux... sort of "rah rah yay Linux."
The portable systems on the ISS are all COTS (Commercial Off-The-Shelf) systems, i.e. some scarily obsolete ThinkPads running Windows 2000. There is also mention of Solaris. Lots of good info to be found here:
http://suzymchale.com/kosmonavtka/isscomp.html
I am guessing the system that failed was the ISS DMS-R, which is normally a super-robust and fault-tolerant system.
The DMS-R was probably coded in the Ada programming language, using a "validated" Ada compiler, possibly with some assembly language components. The same types of systems are used to create reliable systems for things like military avionics (think supersonic jet fighter) and flight control computers.
Ada is also used heavily in commercial aviation. The software on a Boeing 777 is 99% Ada. The air traffic control systems of several countries use Ada.
They already said it was the new US solar panels that caused the power surge that the Russian computers handled with the first install, and the second set caused them to blow.
My bet is they are a couple of Apple IIe's running a custom Apple BASIC program. 64KB of RAM should be more then enough.
It's RustyOS running on Yugo Craptanium computers. Or maybe it's all hydraulic, operated with valves and knobs like the old submarines...
@Mike
...Yugo Craptanium computers...
that's really really funny!
Unfortunatley, Yuri there poured his vodka into the Floppy drive.. idiot Yuri, idiot!
...=D
I'm sure that I was the only person watching the live NASA feed but they gave a debriefing on what happened. The jist of the matter is that they have a glorified circuit breaker that kept tripping and resetting the computers. It has something to do with the changing mass of the space station and how it builds up potential in the form of a plasma field. This field caused the so called breakers to trip. The fix? They bypassed them. Really groovy stuff on NASA tv and if anyone that knows what I'm talking about, wants to correct me or expound please feel free.
I am sure that they use Rad-Hard processors and memory for their life support just like the space shuttle.
God, what lucky people the Russians are to have the US as partners in building this thing. I was watching a BBC News 24 report on the affair and the american commentator said several times 'well, the *Russian* computers etc...' Worth a mention if the finger had been pointed at the US in any significant way.
At the time I happily recalled that engadget hadn't needlessly stated this... , but have a little dignity guys (esp as you're leading the way in space fatalities, tragic as that is)
It was without doubt that the Russian Wibble-Wobble got diametrically gulvanized whilst the Altairium- Algorhythmic-Convulsion-Flusher did not respond to shut-off mode thus sending the entire Doo-dah Thingy into an unexpected Wishy-Washy Titanium overloaded-flux-content...in other words, their toilet exploded!
So...they finally got a working crack to activate that pirated copy of windows?
Lame jokes aside, I'm glad they got things sorted out up there.
For the umpteenth time, they are German computers running Russian software. Russia has the worlds best software engineers so this is a good thing.
German computers with Russian software..., I bet hitler is turning over in his grave...., errr, ashes, or what ever finally happened to him. But I do have to admit, the russians have a knack for keeping their..., cr...p, uhhh, equipment, working no matter how old it is. Can you say Mir?
I heard in the news today that it was an "electric shock" during the installation of the new solar panels that caused the computers to crash; if it was like this (which seems plausible to me), I wouldnt point my finger too much at the Russian technology, after all it was USAmerican solar panels connected by US astronauts breaking the Russian computers... btw. try to be a bit less US centric, it is an "international" space station...
It's so a Gentoo box with a Core2Duo.
@james, nah, you're not the only space nerd. I've been watching too. :)
I was really surprised that these vital computers were so sensitive to electrical noise.
And is anyone else wondering why they don't have backup computers for things as vital as attitude control? Or maybe they just had the same problem with the backups.
I'm sorry Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that.
Hey Hal.
You're pretty smart, you know... Dave could've just swaped out your solar panels for some new American models and could've disabled you.
If only you were still near Earth! Of course, I'm still not sure what happened to Dave at the end.
Screw you Hal! =D
Which OS are they using? Since they're Russian, probably a pirated copy of Windows XP :-)
the number of insightful comments in this thread amazes me.
people with pirated xp jokes. Do you really think you are still being funny?
Who designs mission and life critical systems without redundancy?
If it crashed, it must be windows. Blue Station of death ftw.