Computer Date Glitch May Limit Next Shuttle Launch

n3hat writes "Reuters reports that the next Space Shuttle mission may have to be deferred if it gets too close to the New Year because the onboard computers do not handle the changing of the date in the same way as the ground computers. From the article: '"The shuttle computers were never envisioned to fly through a year-end changeover," space shuttle program manager Wayne Hale told a briefing. The problem, according to Hale, is that the shuttle's computers do not reset to day one, as ground-based systems that support shuttle navigation do. Instead, after December 31, the 365th day of the year, shuttle computers figure January 1 is just day 366."

wtf?

[PhrostyMcByte]

Is there a reason these aren't built on standard parts and operating systems? If they ran their shuttles on something like Debian stable it would be a rock solid platform and probably end up saving them lots of money. Or am I missing something here.

Re:wtf?

[jbrader]

Is there a reason these aren't built on standard parts and operating systems?

It was built by the government.

Re:Bites me

[Brill]

well it's like missiles are in the air for that long

Re:lame

[RuBLed]

Well we know that programmers get confused with numbers one time or another since we're used to start things at index 0. The shuttle's programmer must have left an extra ctr++ there :)

(or maybe he watched too much Star Trek that he thought he should follow the intergalactical star dates)

Yay!

[eric.t.f.bat]

Three cheers for the Y0.001K problem!

Re:lame

[morgan_greywolf]

(or maybe he watched too much Star Trek that he thought he should follow the intergalactical star dates)

Oh, shit! You mean we're not supposed to be following intergalactic star dates?? No wonder those programs I wrote have so many date bugs...

   

Well, of course.

[T-Ranger]

The shuttle runs on three modified IBM 360 systems. Were pushing 35, almost 40 year old systems here.

Do you know how many eligible 35 year old computer bachelors there are out there? Ill tell you: none. Of course the shuttle computers can't get a date.

Happy New Years!

[SpectreHiro]

I read it quickly and thought it said, "The shuttle computers were never envisioned to fly through a year-end hangover".

I couldn't figure out for the life of me why they'd let mission critical crew drink bubbly in space... or why the computer would give a damn.

Re:How Many Times?

[Anonymous Coward]

FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK [slashdot.org]

Problem seems obvious

[Jozer99]

The problem seems obvious. If the shuttle computer is allowed to think it is the 366th day of the year, it will obviously turn evil and try to destroy the earth using the vast orbiting nuclear arsenal, while we sit helpless on the surface. We can't allow this to happen.

Re:lame

[ozmanjusri]

Well we know that programmers get confused with numbers one time or another since we're used to start things at index 0.

Nah, everyone knows geeks are useless at dates because they never get any. Predictable failure, that one.

In other news...

[Venik]

In other news: a computer glitch may elect a President.

Re:lame

[KenStech]

Seems like a piss poor way to run a circus.
Still, in the patriotic spirit of our times I took out some date changing code I wrote years ago when I was first learning C and sent it to NASA. Never let it be said that in times of national need that I did nothing.
Ken

Xmas at home

[wwwillem]

This is not a bug ....

Imagine you are a member of the shuttle design team and you can make a choice (for the next 20 years) to either know for sure that you're with the kids at home on X-mas and New Year .... or you can suggest a software feature that could result in your New Year's Eve being spoiled down the road because you have to be for days in a dumb control room. Hey, what would you do??

And I still remember, when I was a kid, that we had that Apollo flight during X-mas. I think it was the one that would for the first time go behind the moon. Someone in the control room that year made it into an important enough person on the Shuttle program so that this WOULD NEVER HAPPEN AGAIN. :-)

Re:How Many Times?

[SnowZero]

Maybe he meant ABBA [wikipedia.org]? That was also developed during the mid-70s and early 80s.

Re:How Many Times?

[dangitman]

Or do you recommend using a not even fully designed, coded, and tested language for controlling the most complex piece of equipment that man has ever built?

They put computers in bra straps now? Sheesh, I was just getting used to the old ones, and now this?

Re:Bites me

[clickclickdrone]

>capability of missiles (and other defence systems) to handle war through a year-end changeover?
That's why every new year all the soldiers climb out the trenches, swap chocolates, cigarettes etc, and shake hands before climbing back in and resuming war the next day.

Re:How Many Times?

[stunt_penguin]

The good news is, however that they can now be opened using a small remote control; a vast improvement on traditional 'manual' ones :)

Re:wtf?

[Pseudonym]

Such as the fact that the Shuttle was designed a quarter century ago, when Debian was so far from a stable release [...]

Right. It only seems like Debian stable releases are a quarter century apart.

Naive...

[Anonymous Coward]

Is Evian spelled backwards. :p

Re:You're clearly not a very good SA

[Anonymous Coward]

"Great fix, mister five-second-coder."

Give the guy a break. Not everyone can be a NASA software engineer.
Microsoft needs coders too.

Re:No CMMI comments? Are there real developers her

[dnormant]

I think the third one you're thinking of is Dibold?