guthery@acw.UUCP (Scott Guthery) (07/25/90)
I recently visited IBM's Clear Lake facility and, in particular, the
On-Board Shuttle software effort. This group has the distinction of
being the only SEI Level 5 organization in existence. They write in
HAL and the code they cut costs about $3,000 per line. That's about
100 times the cost of run-of-the-mill code and IMHO worth every penny.
Cheers, Scott
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+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+* The Source of C +*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+mjl@cs.rit.edu (Lutz Mike J) (07/25/90)
In article <30.UUL1.3#913@acw.UUCP> guthery@acw.UUCP (Scott Guthery) writes: >I recently visited IBM's Clear Lake facility and, in particular, the >On-Board Shuttle software effort. This group has the distinction of >being the only SEI Level 5 organization in existence. They write in >HAL and the code they cut costs about $3,000 per line. That's about >100 times the cost of run-of-the-mill code and IMHO worth every penny. In Richard Feynman's scathing indictment of NASA's managerial and engineering practices related to risk assessment and control--issued as an appendix in the Challenger commission report--the one area he singled out for praise was *software*. (A nice turn of events for those of us who've taken potshots from traditional engineers years). Am I right in assuming that this software was developed at Clear Lake? Mike Lutz -- Mike Lutz Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester NY INTERNET: mjl@cs.rit.edu
felleman@cg-atla.agfa.com (John Felleman) (07/26/90)
In article <1778@cs.rit.edu> mjl@cs.rit.edu (Lutz Mike J) writes: >In article <30.UUL1.3#913@acw.UUCP> guthery@acw.UUCP (Scott Guthery) writes: >>I recently visited IBM's Clear Lake facility and, in particular, the >>On-Board Shuttle software effort. This group has the distinction of >> ... > >In Richard Feynman's scathing indictment of NASA's managerial and >engineering practices related to risk assessment and control--issued as >an appendix in the Challenger commission report--the one area he >singled out for praise was *software*. (A nice turn of events for those >of us who've taken potshots from traditional engineers years). Am I >right in assuming that this software was developed at Clear Lake? > Family pride takes over: The software Feynmann was referring to may have included some that was written by IBM. However, I am quite sure that the bulk of the guidance and navigation software was written by Draper Lab, in Cambridge, MA, by a team that included my Dad. Draper also programmed the onboard computer for the Apollo missions (for the youngsters out there, Apollo went to the moon). There was never a serious problem with any of that software either. Just thought it would be nice to see credit where credit was due. -- John Felleman (508)-658-{0200,5600} X7034 AGFA Compugraphic ...!{decvax,samsung}!cg-atla!felleman 200 Ballardvale St. -or- Wilmington, Mass. 01887 felleman@cg-atla.agfa.com
lcw@halley.UUCP (Larry Wolfe) (07/27/90)
In article <30.UUL1.3#913@acw.UUCP> guthery@acw.UUCP (Scott Guthery) writes: >... They write in >HAL and the code they cut costs about $3,000 per line. That's about >100 times the cost of run-of-the-mill code and IMHO worth every penny. > > Cheers, Scott > Well Scott, IMHO, your HO would be more valuable if I could escape the notion that there is no upper bound on what you think would be "worth every penny". Unless there is a point at which you would think that some cost per line, even for the space program, is ridiculous or at least a bad investment, then it hardly matters in what language or system it is created. It is by your definition, good. Perhaps I misunderstand. If so, I stand corrected. Larry Wolfe ...cs.utexas.edu!timex!lcw