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From: kenobi%lightsabre@Sun.COM (Rick Kwan)
Newsgroups: sci.space,sci.space.shuttle,sci.astro
Subject: Re: Computer Virus
Message-ID: <126869@sun.Eng.Sun.COM>
Date: 26 Oct 89 17:40:49 GMT
References: <1908@jato.Jpl.Nasa.Gov>
Sender: news@sun.Eng.Sun.COM
Reply-To: kenobi@sun.UUCP (Rick Kwan)
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Organization: Sun Microsystems, Mountain View
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In article <1908@jato.Jpl.Nasa.Gov> baalke@mars.jpl.nasa.gov (Ron Baalke) writes:
>
>
>I just hope the new computer that they are replacing on the Space Shuttle
>is not infected with the "Friday the 13th" computer virus......

When I first read this, I was infected by a simultaneous giggle and
a shudder.

As I recall, the Command and Data Systems (CDS) computer(s) on Magellan
and Galileo are rad-hard, CMOS RCA 1802 chips.  There was talk at the
time (about 4 years ago) about moving to 8086-type processors
manufactured by Harris (again, rad-hard requirements).

Of course, this would make it really easy to use IBM PCs, running
MS-DOS, to do development.  Given larger memories coming, and standard
tools to play with, one could imagine writing routines in "C" and doing
final unit testing of the code on the PC, taking the resulting
binaries, and integrating it into the spacecraft computer.

Now, of course, we couldn't possibly expect a virus to show up in a
future interplanetary/interstellar CDS, and go forth to infect the
universe... could we?  I mean... the thought of such contamination...

A more serious question:  what will be used for computing power on such
probes in the near future?  Is it Harris or what?

	Rick Kwan (aka Obi-Kwan Kenobi)
	Sun Microsystems - Intercontinental Operations
	kenobi@sun.UUCP or kenobi%lightsabre@sun.COM