Scientists Fixing Hubble Contend With Antiquated Computers
NASA scientists irksome to find out what went wrong during last week's repair of the Hubble Period Telescope find themselves dealing with 486 processors and other outdated computer technology. But sometimes, charge managers say, simple is good when you're out in space—as long as you be sure how to talk to decades-old computers.
By Andrew Moseman
This full-volume mock up of the Hubble Space Telescope's computer system, is where NASA astronauts file before going up to work on the telescope, and where Goddard Space Flight Center scientists exam their theories about how to fix Hubble. (Photograph courtesy of NASA)
The Hubble needs benefit—again. The space telescope has beamed gorgeous images of the universe down to Mother earth for 17 years and has undergone four servicing missions by lay out shuttles. A September 27 failure in the Science Observations Formatter pushed back a planned fifth and final servicing vocation aboard the space shuttle Atlantis from this month until February 2009. While irksome to switch over some of the telescope's electrical systems to redundant backup versions remotely, the work together at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland hit two anomalies that caused the telescope to stick into "safe mode" and stop most science operations. Goddard scientists invent they have found the cause, and hope that operations will resume this weekend. But perhaps find a few problems should come as no surprise—not only have Hubble's backup systems sat workless for 18 years, but the telescope operates with computer systems long outdated here on Clay.
One of the main computers that the Goddard team has been struggling with during the adjust attempts runs on an Intel 486 chip, the tallness of 1989 technology. Today most would balk at using such...
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The WorldWide Telescope makes a 6-year-old look smarter than you
While the WorldWide Telescope was in beta at Microsoft Examine, Ben (6 years old at the time) got his hands on it and made a little guided trek for you.
Make sure to check out the other demos Craig Mundie showed off at UC Berkeley:
Persuadable Display
Microsoft Surface and LearningAbove allFull discussion and demos
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Source: Channel 8
At Guru Shikhar...
At Guru Shikhar, we met this man earning his commonplace bread with his old telescope. What does he do? Well, he lets you see all important landmarks of his people's home town, Mt. Abu, through his telescope....
Source: Mysore BLOG PARK
The 37-Year-Old Telescope
Some Bush-leaguer Telescope Making projects are like fine wine. Set them aside for a while, let them perfected, and they become sweet. Others? More like Boone’s Farm. Let ‘em sit too lengthy and they turn to vinegar. The question facin’ ol’ Unk was which grade would the 37-year-old mirror fit into? I was finally, with the help of my ATM-guru doxy, Pat, determined to find out. What kind of jibber-jabber is yore puerile ol’ Uncle spouting now? As always, it’s best to start at the opening, and this beginning begun a right smart while back. Let’s set the Wayback Cabal to the summer of 1971.
For those of you who weren’t around for that halcyon year, here’s a measure of how elongated ago it was. While the sixties had rolled over to the seventies the previous year, 1971 had more to do with the above-named decade than with what was to follow. Naturally, music was in the air. The big news (for us dolt kids, anyhow)? Former Beatle George Harrison’s Concert for Bangladesh. The hit hit album? One that amazed and scandalized in those simpler times, Sweetheart it to Death by a dude callin’ himself Alice Cooper. Not degree your cup o’ tea? Gordon Lightfoot had a big hit with “If You Could Read My Resent.” Movie-wise we chose from flicks as assorted as Carnal Knowledge and Fiddler on the Roof. What were we all watchin’ on TV (three channels was all we had down in the Swamp)? All in the Blood and The Flip Wilson Show. Political news? Watergate was aborning but not with us yet. George Mcgovern was crankin’ up his ill-predetermined campaign, though. In science, Apollo 15 trumped ever’thin’ else, genuinely.
Like I said, long, long time ago. Sound. Seems that way sometimes, too, though if I really concentrate I can still catch a...
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England Travelogue: The Museums
I from the start didn’t go to London to be a tourist, I went to meeting a bunch of friends. Unfortunately several of them backed down before I even left, and a brace more stood me up when I got there. Nick, Mike, and John were the only ones uneaten, but Nick and Mike were working during the week, and John wasn’t scheduled to stumble on me in London until Friday, so I ended up spending quite a lot of values bright and early on my own.
Fortunately, London is among the better places to be alone. On day one, I bought a tripper map for 2 quid at an underground station, and I definitely got my money’s good. Since I hadn’t planned any activities, it proved precious in helping me improvise, and it ended up leading me to an unexpected amount of museums.
I’m not most often a museum person, but I gotta say I was very happy with most of the museums I ended up visiting. The only museum that dissatisfied was the London Aquarium, which was… well, fish. I don’t positive what I expected, but I’d heard good things about the aquarium, so I guesswork I was hoping for a bit of entertainment or at least more interesting information than was actually there.
I’ve already posted my pictures from Monday’s cavort to Tower of London. Tuesday, I decided I needed to prop my feet, as three days straight of walking had reduced them to bloody stumps, though I did end up current to Covent Garden to do a bit of imprompty shopping (and pick up Phonogram, which I strongly recommend). Wednesday brought me to the Natural History Museum, Thursday I went to the dissatisfying London Aquarium and then the excellent Science Museum, and on Friday I visited the HMS Belfast. Here are my pictures!
The Museum of Unpremeditated History is frickin’ huge. The venerable old construction...
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