Hmmm...
The new software kills the main communications system and they have to rely on 50 year old technology?
Are they sure a Cylon virus wasn't involved?
A software update took down the main communications system for the International Space Station on Tuesday, leaving astronauts reliant on 1960s technology to phone home to systems administrators. "Flight controllers were in the process of updating the station’s command and control software and were transitioning from the …
Sometimes, even the best laid plans can go awry. But give NASA credit for keeping up with their "Steely-Eyed Space Men" mystique. So something went wrong; they already had the backup plan in place. A few quick tweaks and they're back in business. In the annals of space travel, this was the furthest thing from a panic attack; more like one of those many "Oops" moments that occur all the time; annoying, but planned for in any event.
I couldn't agree more with the router firmware bit, but wouldn't a simple MD5 checksum sort out any issues with improperly transmitted packets? I mean hell even Android phones use these for ROM updates. One has to hope the IIS is packing tech at least on par with a $99 mobile. Probably more likely down to incomplete testing (due to say budget cuts, outsourcing, etc.) or a few too many flipped bits (cosmic rays and all that). Just my $0.02...
My satellite receiver buffers the whole firmware update and checksum before it does any flashing. That requires that the TV programming be interrupted before flashing and rebooted. Then there is a self test before it gets back to business. Looks like NASA was trying keep their seamless communication going while updating at same time. It's beyond my comprehension on how they do it. But one thing I know it was OE.
In Soviet Russia, communication knocks out YOU!!!
I'd have just used a 1W laser directed groundwards, someone would see that for sure.
BTW did anyone else see that strange yellow light in the general vicinity of Triangulum, at about 19.22 yesterday evening?
Looked like an Iridium flare but painfully bright, no idea what that was.
Lasted a good 15 seconds then faded to nothing.
AC/DC 6EQUJ5
bob@nasa-gc% scp ./netcard-firmware-upgrade.sh admin@nasa-iss.local:/tmp
bob@nasa-gc% ssh admin@nasa-iss
admin@nasa-iss% cd /tmp
admin@nasa-iss% . ./netcard-firmware-upgrade.sh
admin@nasa-iss% /sbin/ifconfig eth0 down
Connection to nasa-iss.local closed
bob@nasa-gc% /sbin/ifconfig eth0 up
SIOCSIFFLAGS: Operation not permitted
...
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