gzt: No it is definitely a mac. When the flight took off it was running Lion.

On landing they had to upgrade the operating system to Mountain Lion to run the latest iMars.

Bandwidth to Mars is limited and the download process will take three weeks. But this is not the end of the problems.

It's a P.I.T.A to do a clean install. NASA engineers are scouring the internet looking for the undocumented clean install method.

Later in the process they will regret not taking a USB stick larger than 4GB to work this morning.

:   ).

polglase: If you need a laugh you can always rely on the herald - http://www.nzherald.co.nz/technology/news/article.cfm?c_id=5&objectid=10826882 

SaltyNZ: The article in Wired is better. But PPC has been used in space applications for a long time. Older microelectronics are easier to harden on account of the feature sizes being larger; that means they hold more charge/higher current, and so the effect of a cosmic ray hit is relatively smaller.

So every generation of advanced space widget is actually based on much older electronics still. IIRC they had to get a hardware designer out of retirement to help them reprogram Gallileo when it's main antenna failed to open, because the microprocessor it used was some funky old RCA chip that was practically unique.

oxnsox:

SaltyNZ: The article in Wired is better. But PPC has been used in space applications for a long time. Older microelectronics are easier to harden on account of the feature sizes being larger; that means they hold more charge/higher current, and so the effect of a cosmic ray hit is relatively smaller.

So every generation of advanced space widget is actually based on much older electronics still. IIRC they had to get a hardware designer out of retirement to help them reprogram Gallileo when it's main antenna failed to open, because the microprocessor it used was some funky old RCA chip that was practically unique.

Damn... I was just arranging to send a load of old office desktops to the knackers yard, now I guess I should save them for the Kiwi Space programme.

wellygary:

polglase: If you need a laugh you can always rely on the herald -?http://www.nzherald.co.nz/technology/news/article.cfm?c_id=5&objectid=10826882?

So does that make it the first nuclear powered mac, :)

You also agree that you will not use these products for any purposes prohibited by United States law, including, without limitation, the development, design, manufacture or production of nuclear, missiles, or chemical or biological weapons.

tcpdump: Correct. Specifically you are not allowed to use iTunes to build nuclear weapons:


http://www.apple.com/legal/itunes/appstore/dev/stdeula/

You also agree that you will not use these products for any purposes prohibited by United States law, including, without limitation, the development, design, manufacture or production of nuclear, missiles, or chemical or biological weapons.