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NASA Used 1960s-1970s Software Into The 2000s, Here's Why

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This question originally appeared on Quora: Is it true that NASA continued to use 1960s and 1970s software technology during the space shuttle era into the 2000s because the software was bulletproof?

Answer by Robert Frost, NASA instructor/engineer in the Mission Operations Directorate, and previously the founder of Quigo, on Quora

There are multiple reasons why NASA continued to use 1960s-1970s software technology.

NASA is under-budgeted for its objectives. Our facilities arent all gleaming high tech. Every day, I use the same urinal that Neil Armstrong used and I keep my SpaceX Dragon Systems Manual in an Apollo 10 binder. We still have lead paint on our staircase banisters and asbestos in our ceilings. We still have white walls yellowed by 60s-70s cigarette smoke. If we cant afford to replace our toilets, we arent going to make big expensive changes elsewhere unless there is a mission need to do so.

Based on the experiences of the earlier programs, NASA decided to not use a machine language. They decided to use a high-level language. They created their own. It was called HAL/S (High-order Assembly Language/Shuttle). And for people like me, thank goodness they did. NASAs flight controllers and instructors are trained to be experts on space systems and operations, not programming. But we need to be able to examine the software to troubleshoot and script simulations.

HAL/S was specifically designed to accomplish the types of tasks we needed the Space Shuttle flight software to accomplish. The hardware on the Space Shuttle was specifically designed to run that software.

So, there was really no need to change. As Clay explained, it was well understood. It worked.

In the general world, we see software technologies change frequently. We see that because requirements change. A new need isnt well done by the existing technology, so a new technology is developed. Its chaotic and exciting. But in any very specialized use of technology, that evolution is much, more slower because it isnt required and any significant changes would be expensive to implement.

As for bulletproof the Shuttle software development team has a very well deserved reputation for producing almost bug free code, but that isnt all because of the technology being used. Their processes and documentation are designed to prioritize being error free and their customers have very specific requirements.

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NASA Used 1960s-1970s Software Into The 2000s, Here's Why

NASA astronauts’ first spacewalk after near-death spacesuit malfunction – Video

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NASA astronauts #39; first spacewalk after near-death spacesuit malfunction
Two NASA astronauts carried out repair work on a voltage regulator which shorted out in May. It was the first time NASA allowed astronauts to go outside the ISS since 2013, when an incident...

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NASA astronauts' first spacewalk after near-death spacesuit malfunction - Video

Amazing Mars Anomalies NASA Image Shows Mayan Like Face Sculptures And Earth Like Lake Houses – Video

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Amazing Mars Anomalies NASA Image Shows Mayan Like Face Sculptures And Earth Like Lake Houses
Amazing Mars Anomalies in one of the most recent NASA images taken by the Mars Curiosity Rover.In this image we can see what appear to be Earth like lakeside houses , a sculpture that has several.

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Amazing Mars Anomalies NASA Image Shows Mayan Like Face Sculptures And Earth Like Lake Houses - Video

MUST SEE ! — NASA Reveal’s Evidence Of Past Life On Mars SOL – 778 Anomaly, Artifacts, UFO’s – Video

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MUST SEE ! -- NASA Reveal #39;s Evidence Of Past Life On Mars SOL - 778 Anomaly, Artifacts, UFO #39;s
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MAVEN! NASA’s Latest Mars Spacecraft Reveals Secrets Behind Planets Atmosphere! – Video

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MAVEN! NASA #39;s Latest Mars Spacecraft Reveals Secrets Behind Planets Atmosphere!
http://www.undergroundworldnews.com MAVEN, the NASA statement claims, has provided scientists their first look at a storm of energetic solar particles at Mars, produced unprecedented ultraviolet...

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MAVEN! NASA's Latest Mars Spacecraft Reveals Secrets Behind Planets Atmosphere! - Video

Federal Eye: NASA maintains lofty worker-satisfaction ratings for 2014

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National Aeronautic and Space Administration employees remained largely satisfied with their agency this year, likely continuing the agencys trend ofrankingamong the best places to work in the federal government, according to results from a recent survey.

Seventy-one percent of NASA staffers whoresponded to theOffice of Personnel Managements federal-employee viewpoints survey gave the agency a positive mark this year when asked about their overall impression of the organization.

NASA in 2013earned the highest composite score among all federal agencies for the second consecutive year. In this yearssurvey, the organization showed improvements in 56 categories, while itsnumbers dropped slightly with13 measures of worker satisfaction, according to a summary of the results.

Among the areas with the most room for improvement, the agency scored relatively low onperformance pay, career-advancement opportunities, and satisfaction with senior leadership.

More than two-thirds of respondents indicated that pay raises are not based on performance, and about 58 percent saidthe agency does not effectively deal with workers who do a poor job. About 51 percent of the employees saidthey are not satisfied with opportunities for advancement, and 22 percent said they do not have a high level of respect for senior leaders.

However, NASA staffersexpressed a great dealof enthusiasm for their work, with 97 percent of respondents saying they are willing to put in extra effort to complete a job and more than 88 percent saying they view their workas important.

Sixty-three percent of the employees said NASA rewards creativity and innovation, while nearly 78 percent said they feelencouraged to come up with new and better ways of doing things.

Among six programs designed to improve work-life balance,more thantwo-thirds of respondents saidthey are satisfied witheach of them. Nearly 95 percent gave positive marks to NASAs alternative work schedules,and about 87 percent indicated they are happy with telework options.

Although NASAs survey results are available online, no federal agencies havepublicized their numbersyet. The Office of Personnel Management generally announces the results in November or December, and the nonprofit Partnership for Public Service uses them for its annualBest Places to Work in Federal Government rankings.

Josh Hicks covers the federal government and anchors the Federal Eye blog. He reported for newspapers in the Detroit and Seattle suburbs before joining the Post as a contributor to Glenn Kesslers Fact Checker blog in 2011.

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Federal Eye: NASA maintains lofty worker-satisfaction ratings for 2014

NASA Probe Snaps First Photos of Mercury's Water Ice

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The first-ever photos of water ice near Mercury's north pole have come down to Earth, and they have quite a story to tell.

The images, taken by NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft (short for MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging), suggest that the ice lurking within Mercury's polar craters was delivered recently, and may even be topped up by processes that continue today, researchers said.

NEWS: Mercury Not Too Hot For Polar Water Ice?

More than 20 years ago, Earth-based radar imaging first spotted signs of water ice near Mercury's north and south poles a surprise, perhaps, given that temperatures on the solar system's innermost planet can top 800 degrees Fahrenheit (427 degrees Celsius). [Water Ice On Mercury: How It Was Found (Video)]

In late 2012, MESSENGER confirmed those observations from orbit around Mercury, discovering ice in permanently shadowed craters near the planet's north pole. MESSENGER scientists announced the find after integrating results from thermal modeling studies with data gathered by the probe's hydrogen-hunting neutron spectrometer and its laser altimeter, which measured the reflectance of the deposits.

And now the MESSENGER team has captured optical-light images of the ice for the first time, by taking advantage of small amounts of sunlight scattered off the craters' walls.

NEWS: Spacecraft Raises Mercury Mysteries

"There is a lot new to be learned by seeing the deposits," said study lead author Nancy Chabot, instrument scientist for MESSENGERs Mercury Dual Imaging System and a researcher at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland, in a statement.

For example, the texture of the ice at the bottom of Mercury's 70-mile-wide (113 kilometers) Prokofiev Crater suggests that the material was put in place relatively recently rather than billions of years ago, researchers said.

Images of other craters back up this notion. They show dark deposits, believed to be frozen organic-rich material, covering ice in some areas, with sharp boundaries between the two different types of material.

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NASA Probe Snaps First Photos of Mercury's Water Ice

Ancient Aliens On MARS: Ancient Elongated Skull Caught By Curiosity NASA, Sept 14, 2014 – Video

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Ancient Aliens On MARS: Ancient Elongated Skull Caught By Curiosity NASA, Sept 14, 2014
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Watch NASA Spacewalkers Remodel the Space Station

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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. Spacewalking astronauts replaced a failed electrical unit at the International Space Station on Wednesday, restoring full power to the orbiting lab. The space station had been operating since spring with only seven of its eight solar-power channels. Wednesday's work by Reid Wiseman and Butch Wilmore NASA's second spacewalk in two weeks brought the energy capability back up to 100 percent. The spacewalkers encountered balky bolts but still managed to complete the job in the allotted time, with less than two minutes to spare. "Yoo-hoo!" they cheered as NASA declared victory.

With their main job completed, the spacewalkers installed a new camera, and moved around various camera and wireless radio systems. The relocations are needed to get ready for the eventual arrival of new commercial crew vehicles. That's still a few years away. "It's been a very successful day," Mission Control said as the 6.5-hour spacewalk drew to a close. A Russian spacewalk, meanwhile, is on tap for next Wednesday.

First published October 15 2014, 6:59 AM

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Watch NASA Spacewalkers Remodel the Space Station

NASA's New Free-Flying Robot to Conquer ISS in 2017

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NASA has had little flying robots called SPHERESon board the InternationalSpace Stationsince 2006. Thats closing in on a decade of successful operations, in that theyve mostly behaved themselves and done everything that their astronaut masters have asked them to do. So thats all well and good, but the idea (or one of the ideas) behind putting robots on the ISS was to get them to do useful things, ultimately freeing up the astronauts to look out the windows more often. And, you know,science.

Neither the little SPHERES robots nor Robonaut 2 have been able to contribute to inspection and basic maintenance tasks. NASA has just announced a contest to name a new, ISS-bound robotic system calledthe Free Flying Robot, which will be the next step towards robots that are useful in space.

As the push for manned and automated exploration of the solar system expands, NASA & the NASA Ames Research Center are creating controlled and autonomous robotic devices capable of supplementing flight crew. These Free Flying Robots will eventually extend the research & exploration capabilities of Astronauts, as they are capable of working during off-hours and (eventually) in extreme environments.

NASA says that these robots will carry mobile sensors such as an RFID reader for logging inventory & inspect items using a built in camera, which sounds useful to me, and the agency also suggests at least one other scenario for the bot:

While we dont have any more technicaldetails (yet), were expecting that the Free-flyerwill incorporate all the incremental upgrades that weve seen with SPHERES, including a smartphone-ish brain (which you can sort of make out in the illustration) and a suite of sensors potentially including Project Tango, which would allow the robots to keep track of where they are and avoid obstacles in their way. One notable departure from the SPHERES design is that the free-flyer robot uses fans to propel itself, as opposed to CO2 jets, which allows it to run without a finite fuel source. Self-recharging is planned, too.

Acting as a mobile camera is only one scenario; the important thing is that the robots be reliablycontrollable in real time by a ground operator, so that they can get stuff done independently of any direct astronaut assistance of supervision.Eventually, more robust versions ofrobots like these may even be able to exit the station entirely, taking over exterior inspection and maintenance tasks as well.

If you want a shot at naming these robots and designing a patch for the mission (US $1,000 if you win!), you can submit your ideashere. Submissions are due 22 October, and the winner will be chosen 2 November.

[ NASA Free Flying Robot Challenge ]

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NASA's New Free-Flying Robot to Conquer ISS in 2017


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