5 ms·
Everytime I read about tech like this I cant help but wonder What kind of mainboard does this run? What CPU? What temp spec? what OS does it run? What is the ma
by stinos 12y ago
Everytime I read about tech like this I cant help but wonder What kind of mainboard does this run? What CPU? What temp spec? what OS does it run? What is the main laguage? Would it use open source code?
Anyone has a clue or educated guess?
edit thanks to all answers provided, exactly the info I was looking for! And very interesting as well.
- acqq 12y agoRegarding the power source, and why the mission depended on only solar energy: "Why was RTG (Radioisotope thermoelectric generator) not used in Rosetta mission?" https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8610585 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8610585 Only US and Russia have the technology.
- pjmlp 12y agoMost likely Ada, C or C++ with very strict code guidelines, which even make C feel like Ada. Alongside real time OS like VxWorks, QNX, Aonix, .... There was a presentation at CppCon about Mars Rover. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SdSKZFoUa8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SdSKZFoUa8
- fjarlq 12y agoSome details: http://space.stackexchange.com/questions/593/on-board-computer-data-handling-system-of-rosetta-details http://space.stackexchange.com/questions/593/on-board-comput... Note that the RTX2010 uses Forth: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RTX2010 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RTX2010
- duckson 12y agoI don't know about Philae/Rosetta's hardware in particular, but there are very specific requirements to hardware that's sent into space. I'm using the Mars Science Laboratory as an example here: The MSL uses twin PowerPC RAD750 boards. If one of them fails, the rover could use the other as a backup. After all, you can't go out to Mars to fix a firmware update gone wrong. :) The RAD750's are hardened against radiation in space, and can withstand extreme temperatures. They run at about 200Mhz, and cost around $200.000 a piece. [1] [2] It runs the realtime operating system VxWorks, which also happens to be what Apple uses for their Airport routers. :) [3] NASA uses C as their main language, with specific coding standards. [4] [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Science_Laboratory#Rover http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Science_Laboratory#Rover [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAD750 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAD750 [3] http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/134041-inside-nasas-curiosity-its-an-apple-airport-extreme-with-wheels http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/134041-inside-nasas-curio... [4] http://lars-lab.jpl.nasa.gov/JPL_Coding_Standard_C.pdf http://lars-lab.jpl.nasa.gov/JPL_Coding_Standard_C.pdf
- stinos 12y agoIf one of them fails, the rover could use the other as a backup Any idea how that works practically? I mean, there are two boards and one set of peripherals. Is there like an external controller which constantly checks if board A is doing fine, and if not, somehow reroutes all peripheral communication to board B?
- avar 12y agoThe NASA website seems to imply that it's done manually: http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/mission/rover/brains/ http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/mission/rover/brains/ Presumably there's some basic functions in the radio stack they use where they can trigger operations like shutdown, startup, reboot, switch boards etc.
- gsnedders 12y agoNASA normally has pretty low-level stuff. To the point of being able to do full firmware updates — though obviously that's something they don't want to risk ordinarily.
- RoseO 12y agoPhilae runs on an RTX2010 microprocessor: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RTX2010 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RTX2010