'Curiosity' - NASA Mars Rover - Due to land 5th Aug 2012

[jmorgan]

Asterix said:

Would be awesome to see the faces of the bods at NASA if there were a set of footprints going across the frame.

No no no, rover will take a picture, camera looks somewhere else then comes back and the foot prints are there.....

[McHaggis]

Asterix said:

I thought the Marsasarus were further to the West?

Yup, my fault - you are quite right. Maybe it's a vent for a series of alien meeting vanues, refreshment and relaxation areas.

I'm suggesting it could be the tip of a giant Marsbar?

[anonymous-user]

Asterix said:

McHaggis said:

Asterix said:

It looks like the cowl to an exhaust vent for a vast subterranean city inhabited by Martrolls.
Or it could be a rock.
Doesn't look like a rock though so it must be the former.

Rubbish. That's a Marsasarus vent if ever I saw one.

I thought the Marsasarus were further to the West?

Morlocks?

[Eric Mc]

Mind your language.

Morlock



Boris



Just to avoid any confusion.

[TheHeretic]

Did Eric make a funny in the science forum?

[PeanutHead]

TheHeretic said:

Did Eric make a funny in the science forum?

Threads going downhill I see.

[McHaggis]

Sorry. Partly my fault.

Back on to topic - I read that the s/w wasn't finished by launch, so they uploaded it en route via FPGAs.

Would they risk further (non-critical) upgrades early in the mission or wait until they had completed the mission goals and then look to upgrade?

[scubadude]

McHaggis said:

Would they risk further (non-critical) upgrades early in the mission or wait until they had completed the mission goals and then look to upgrade?

IIRC the two rovers Spirit and Oppurtunity recieved numerous software upgrades during the surface missions, mostly to the autonmous driving capability.

[Eric Mc]

FPGA?

Upgarding software en-route is pretty common. The Voyagers have better software in them today than when they were launched 35 years ago.

[FurtiveFreddy]

Eric Mc said:

FPGA?

Upgarding software en-route is pretty common. The Voyagers have better software in them today than when they were launched 35 years ago.

Uh Oh, another acronym!

Field Programmable Gate Array. Very big, expensive chips.

[Eric Mc]

FurtiveFreddy said:

Eric Mc said:

FPGA?

Upgarding software en-route is pretty common. The Voyagers have better software in them today than when they were launched 35 years ago.

Uh Oh, another acronym!

Field Programmable Gate Array. Very big, expensive chips.

Thank you - not that I really have a clue what it means.

I presume "Field Programmable" is just tecchie talk for "Remotely Upgradeable"?

"Gate Array" sound like what's outside Buckingham Palace.

[McHaggis]

Eric Mc said:

Upgarding software en-route is pretty common. The Voyagers have better software in them today than when they were launched 35 years ago.

Agreed that it is common.

I just wonder how much they balance risk in the mission between:

Stable operating environment, no critical patches needed
vs
Improved capability would give improved mission results efficiency, etc
vs
The risk of an upgrade going wrong...

I know they are safety critical systems with many layers of tolerance, and that they will test these in an identical rover system on the ground.

[Morningside]

One thing I cannot understand is all the Rovers cabling is on the outside.

I would have thought its would be on the inside incase of damage or snaring.

[FurtiveFreddy]

Eric Mc said:

Thank you - not that I really have a clue what it means.

I presume "Field Programmable" is just tecchie talk for "Remotely Upgradeable"?

"Gate Array" sound like what's outside Buckingham Palace.

The FP bit is because they don't have to be programmed at the factory when the chip is made, unlike most large integrated circuits. You can develop some software and then buy a 'blank' FPGA and put the software on it yourself and then upgrade or change the software as and when you wish.

Otherwise you have to settle on features and functionality, give the software to the factory making the chips, who effectively burn it into the chip, but after that most of the core functionality is fixed unless you physically swap out the hardware.

FPGAs are used in all sorts of high-end electronics these days and they're ideal for the military and programmes such as this because they are very powerful devices but also very flexible in the way they can be used.

And they use an array of (logic) gates, hence Gate Array!

[Eric Mc]

If only I knew what a Logic Gate was. Then I might know what an array of them was

Regards the cabling, I presume its fairly tough stuff with properly sealed plugs etc because it will have to endure fairly big temperature swings and a pretty dusty environment.

[FunkyNige]

Eric Mc said:

If only I knew what a Logic Gate was. Then I might know what an array of them was

Regards the cabling, I presume its fairly tough stuff with properly sealed plugs etc because it will have to endure fairly big temperature swings and a pretty dusty environment.

A logic gate is a bit of circuitry that takes one or two inputs and gives an output, eg. an AND gate will take 2 inputs and if they're both on (1) it will give on (1) out, if either of them are off (0) then it will give off (0) out. Boolean algebra in old money.
Modern computer chips are a gazillion NAND logic gates bolted together.

[Eric Mc]

Many thanks.

I bit like a super-duper version of the core rope memory boards in the Apollo computers?

[callyman]

Saw this on Twitter

[blitzracing]

Eric Mc said:

Regards the cabling, I presume its fairly tough stuff with properly sealed plugs etc because it will have to endure fairly big temperature swings and a pretty dusty environment.

You know, same as you find in a Caterham....

[TheHeretic]

Morningside said:

One thing I cannot understand is all the Rovers cabling is on the outside.

I would have thought its would be on the inside incase of damage or snaring.

Indeed. Could quite easily snag them on a nearby tree, or fence post.