mac@idacrd.UUCP (Robert McGwier) (03/12/91)
The SAREX mission which went up with the Astro-1 folks (Ron Parise, WA4SIR
Sarex operator) used a Grid computer with a hard drive to log some of the
contacts. The hard drive survived all the attitude changes, launch,
landing etc. It does more MIPS and has more memory and long term storage
than ALL of the space shuttle computers of the AP-101 ilk. NASA is one
of those agencies that strongly believes in `if it ain't broke don't
fix it'. Another example in the aerospace industry (just because I have
first hand knowledge) is Martin-Marietta and Titan. While on a trip
through the Titan work hanger near Boulder Co 1.5 years ago, I found
out that much of the electronics is still RTL (!). That predates TTL
and there is little if any integration in these vehicles. This may have
changed but I doubt it. There will come a time when new stuff is more
reliable than continued to use old tried and true but these people are
extremely conserative. With company fortunes, government programs,
etc. riding on the public (congress) demand for 100% success, their
conservatism is probably understandable.
Bob
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My opinions are my own no matter | Robert W. McGwier, N4HY
who I work for! ;-) | CCR, AMSAT, etc.
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