Linux On Mars - All your lander are belong to ... Tux? – 1790 days old

[Dark Angel]

The Linux/Unix blog has an interesting little piece on the Mars landers that I doubt we'll see in the mainstream press. It turns out that NASA used Linux to run the Mars Lander, not software from another well known vendor.

http://linuxblogonline.org/archives/47

"When NASA needs an operating system for a Mars lander does it go knocking on Bill Gates’ door? The answer is no. The newly arrived on the planet Phoenix Lander is powered by a variation of Linux running on a specially hardened CPU and motherboard produced by IBM."

Apparently they used special hardware, too. Hardened to operate in the harsh environment twixt us and ... there. Not that that's a surprise, I suppose, but interesting none the less.

[casca]

Naw, they were all set to us Vista as the OS, but couldn't get a driver for the chipset.

[phicks]

That was interesting DA.

[ZemaTalon]

Sometimes the spiders visiting the forum dredge up some very interesting old topics & then I follow um, post a response, & then take the blame for resurrecting an ancient post I somehow missed this post originally. I wonder if the same applies to the current lander, is it also running Linux?

[mlangdn]

It uses this OS:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VxWorks

[Grogan]

Yeah, that was BS and many sites parotted it... VXWorks has nothing to do with Linux. (i.e. It's not a variant as the original article said)

It's similar, being a Posix compliant OS and all, but it's a proprietary kernel.

It won't be the same VxWorks as was running on that shitty Netgear router you threw in the garbage though, it will be customized for the hardware and usage.

[Grogan]

They did make use of some Open Source software though:

http://opensource.com/life/12/10/NAS...ource-software

But, dig beneath the hood of this story—and the diagram included—and you’ll see another story. One that points to the key role of open source software in making this phenomenal mission work and the results available to so many, so quickly.