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NASA just sent a software update to a spacecraft 12B miles away

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Re: NASA just sent a software update to a spacecraft 12B miles away

#191

Post by ilyt »

hef19898 wrote: post #74
wannacboatmovie wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sadly the "megabytes of JavaScript to 'hello world'" culture of today could not even begin to comprehend how this even works

It funny, usually people on HN diss NASA et all hard for being those big, inept governkent agencies, with SpaceX being so so mich better because SpaceX get SW"engineering". And then NASA does something like this, and all of sudden it so cool! Coupd it be that those orgs aren't even nearly as incompetent as people have a tendency to think?

At least it makes it easier to spot the inept and incompetent in the crowd.

Re: NASA just sent a software update to a spacecraft 12B miles away

#192

Post by ilyt »

autoexec wrote: post #96
randomdata wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you have Voyager 2's budget, I'm sure someone would be quite happy to sell you a phone that receives updates for decades.

It's not just an issue of money. Apple made a lot more money last year than NASA did.

Apple updates their phones for LOOONG time compared to Android

Re: NASA just sent a software update to a spacecraft 12B miles away

#193

Post by macintux »

ianlevesque wrote: post #190
palijer wrote: post #171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a great read digging into the team that I loved. I wonder how many of the core team are still there. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/03/magazine/the-loyal-engine... >Over decades, the crew members who have remained have forgone promotions, the lure of nearby Silicon Valley and, more recently, retirement, to stay with the spacecraft. NASA funding, which peaked during the Apollo program in the 1960s, has dwindl…

> NASA funding, which peaked during the Apollo program in the 1960s, has dwindled, making it next to impossible to recruit young computer-science majors away from the likes of Google and Facebook. This problem can be attacked in a couple of ways, one way is to increase compensation sure, but another is to make it possible to have healthcare and housing on the salary they do offer. The chasm between pay and cost of li…

I've long thought universal healthcare (& UBI) would enable more people to take entrepreneurial risks, but I hadn't considered that passion jobs like NASA could also be beneficiaries.

Re: NASA just sent a software update to a spacecraft 12B miles away

#194

Post by Simplicitas »

qrybam wrote: post #31

This is incredible. Not just because of the engineering that went into such a long lived machine, but also because of the ingenuity of the teams that have looked after this mission and those currently working on it. Half a century of operation. Bits of data, like gold dust, peppering our radio telescopes with telemetry from the edges of our protective solar shell, and beyond. Not only is the technical achievement som…

"antidote to the darker side of our species." .. LOVE THIS!

Re: NASA just sent a software update to a spacecraft 12B miles away

#195

Post by zrail »

macintux wrote: post #193
ianlevesque wrote: post #190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> NASA funding, which peaked during the Apollo program in the 1960s, has dwindled, making it next to impossible to recruit young computer-science majors away from the likes of Google and Facebook. This problem can be attacked in a couple of ways, one way is to increase compensation sure, but another is to make it possible to have healthcare and housing on the salary they do offer. The chasm between pay and cost of li…

I've long thought universal healthcare (& UBI) would enable more people to take entrepreneurial risks, but I hadn't considered that passion jobs like NASA could also be beneficiaries.

UBI and universal healthcare would enable _so_ many people to take risks that they can't today. We would see an explosion in the arts, in fundamental science, in passion projects like this. It would be absolutely incredible.

Except according to half of the people in charge it would mean The Wrong People would get money and all they would do is buy drugs. And that's why we can't have nice things.

Re: NASA just sent a software update to a spacecraft 12B miles away

#196

Post by jabradoodle »

randomdata wrote: post #181
jabradoodle wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple made more than 100 billion on iPhone sales in the first half of 2023 and the marginal cost of an update is essentially 0, so what your saying doesn't make sense.

And the vendors who supplied the Voyager program may have made quadrillions across the entire customer base for all we know. But there is no reason for a vendor to use the income from one customer to subsidize another. If you only pay $1,000 for an iPhone, you are going to get $1,000 worth of support. Don't be such a cheapskate if you want greater service, I guess?

Economies of scale are not a subsidy.

Re: NASA just sent a software update to a spacecraft 12B miles away

#197

Post by ChicagoBoy11 »

qrybam wrote: post #31

This is incredible. Not just because of the engineering that went into such a long lived machine, but also because of the ingenuity of the teams that have looked after this mission and those currently working on it. Half a century of operation. Bits of data, like gold dust, peppering our radio telescopes with telemetry from the edges of our protective solar shell, and beyond. Not only is the technical achievement som…

If you feel that way about this, I would highly recommend "Carrying the Fire" for you as a tremendous read. Out of all the Apollo-era books I've read, I'd say this one does the best job of mixing in really interesting technical details to really get you to peek at just how much complexity there really was (and may I even suggest giving NASSP a go so you can even try it yourself) while also doing a fantastic job at connecting it to the human and meaning side of the whole endeavor. Just a fantastic read, and sounds like you'd be the perfect target audience for it!

Re: NASA just sent a software update to a spacecraft 12B miles away

#198

Post by simpaticoder »

qrybam wrote: post #31

This is incredible. Not just because of the engineering that went into such a long lived machine, but also because of the ingenuity of the teams that have looked after this mission and those currently working on it. Half a century of operation. Bits of data, like gold dust, peppering our radio telescopes with telemetry from the edges of our protective solar shell, and beyond. Not only is the technical achievement som…

>Half a century of operation.

The stability of society (specifically American, specifically California/Caltech/JPL/Pasadena) must also be marveled at. That's 2 or 3 generations of engineers and scientists that were trained well enough to actually get things done. This is a marvel of teaching, technical communication, and societal infrastructure. Notably, NASA/JPL has maintained its prestige and funding for that entire time, as has Caltech.

There are many institutions (Sears), and world superpowers (USSR) from 50 years ago that seemed like they would dominate forever, but are gone.

Re: NASA just sent a software update to a spacecraft 12B miles away

#199

Post by ChicagoBoy11 »

pantulis wrote: post #44
qrybam wrote: post #31

This is incredible. Not just because of the engineering that went into such a long lived machine, but also because of the ingenuity of the teams that have looked after this mission and those currently working on it. Half a century of operation. Bits of data, like gold dust, peppering our radio telescopes with telemetry from the edges of our protective solar shell, and beyond. Not only is the technical achievement som…

> Not only is the technical achievement something to be celebrated Only the _documentation_ effort must be monumental.

I've been trying to "learn" the missions more thoroughly by flying them on Orbiter and NASSP, and just the sheer amount and depth of documentation that is accessible today is truly astounding. There's something awe-inspiring about sitting and my computer and looking at the mission plan, only to then not understand the "why" of this particular switch that I'm throwing, to then open a pdf with a "astronaut training booklet" which explains the overview of the thing I'm using, to then open another pdf with the detail technical documentation of it, to then a schematic of the equipment should I at any point (but prob not) ever try building one myself.

Re: NASA just sent a software update to a spacecraft 12B miles away

#200

Post by rrdharan »

zrail wrote: post #195
macintux wrote: post #193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've long thought universal healthcare (& UBI) would enable more people to take entrepreneurial risks, but I hadn't considered that passion jobs like NASA could also be beneficiaries.

UBI and universal healthcare would enable _so_ many people to take risks that they can't today. We would see an explosion in the arts, in fundamental science, in passion projects like this. It would be absolutely incredible. Except according to half of the people in charge it would mean The Wrong People would get money and all they would do is buy drugs. And that's why we can't have nice things.

Is this about the US specifically?

There are many countries with universal healthcare and a decent social safety net (Scandinavia comes to mind).

Why haven’t we seen this explosion coming out of them?

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