Why the fuck would you use windows in mission critical spaces.
Uhhh so they can see where they are
To have a nice Outlook on things
So they can rest while the Copilot handles stuff for a while
All of this will surely give them the Edge they need for this mission.
They’re going farther from earth than any human ever has. That makes them Explorers
I just hope they don’t Paint themselves into a corner
Luckly space has no corners, it’s not an Office
You wouldn’t and they didn’t.
The article has just failed to inform the readers (the few that got past the headline), that this was on his personal Surface Tablet and not on anything associated with the mission.
If it’s on the ship, it’s associated with the mission. Windows has a very high habit of barfing so over itself, as is evidenced by this article. It’s bonkers to me that they chose to use Windows for anything at all.
I don’t think the phone in my pocket is “associated with my job” when I’m working, just because it’s in the same location. Do you?
False equivalency.
If you were going on a 10 day hike to the most remote location on earth, would you bring the most unreliable device you could find, or something you can count on?
You don’t understand. Their personal device can be trashed immediately without any drawbacks to the mission.
If I go on a 10 day hike to the most remote location on Earth, and bring my yoyo to have some fun with, I really don’t care if it breaks on my hike, and the hike is not affected except for my not having fun with my yoyo.
No, I do understand. I still think it’s a bad decision. It’s not just about how critical to the mission it is. It’s useful as a form of communication with family and entertainment. In that context I do think it’s “important”. And also in that context, I would want something reliable.
Absolutely agree. It’s still wrong that it’s associated with the mission, and it’s not “absolutely bonkers” to not really think about the personal email client you use.
Tbh nowadays mail software kinda sucks all around, not just Outlook
I disagree
Alright, you’ve convinced me
Then my job here is done!
Idk, if I go to space I def want windows … operated by trained, reliable penguins.
Imagine: You are the first human approaching the moon for a landing since 50+ years. Just a couple of seconds before touchdown the PC starts rebooting because an engineer clicked remind me later on earth and the PC registered that nobody moved the mouse or pressed a key for more than 3 nanoseconds so the user is surely AFK and has definitely nothing important going on so let’s close all open documents and reboot 🤷🏻♂️
Every time Microsoft does an update, they reduce functionality. Basic functions like print, search and file storage get moved into sub-sub-sub menus. The point of this is to make room on the main screen for ads. Screwing up your work flow gives you more time to look at them. This is intentional.
They updated onenote today on my work PC and changed all my checkBOXES to CIRCLES. WHO THE FUCK APPROVED THAT as you can see I’m still pissed. Fuck microslop
The fact that the right click menu is now a submenu of the right click menu drive me mad.
The article leaves out that this was on Commander Wiseman’s personal tablet, a Microsoft Surface Pro and not any device associated with the mission.
He sought tech support for internet connectivity issues on a PCD (personal computing device), which is a Microsoft Surface Pro.
The ‘Two Microsoft Outlooks’ was a description of the issue he was having. The headline is implying that there are two machines running Outlook that don’t work.
NASA detected that the PCD was actually on a network. It asked the commander for permission to connect to the tablet remotely so it could look into a problem with the Optimus software. “I also see that I have two Microsoft Outlooks and neither one of those are working,” Wiseman responded, per a clip shared by Niki Grayson on Bluesky. “If you wanna remote in and check Optimus and those two Outlooks, that would be awesome.”
The source of the quotes and a better article:
How fast is their internet connection? I didn’t expect them to be able to “remote in”, I thought the latency would be awful
In Earth orbit, there would be little latency. Starlink operates at ~500km and latency on that network is around 50ms. ‘Traditional’ internet satellites are in geosync orbit which is around 35,000 km, their latency is in the 250ms range.
At TLI (Translunar Injection) burn they were at 185km. They would have been a bit higher when the problem happened but their apogee was 2,600km, so they were somewhere in the 50-100ms range
They use the TDRS for data, it has a capacity of around 800Mbps but that is shared with the ISS.
So, their Internet connection is probably better than people using cellular data or Starlink. At the moon it’ll be in the 2500ms range.
They’re testing an optical system that would allow for much higher bandwidth, in the 100s of Gbps. The hardware that they’re carrying will only do about 250Mbps but there are optical tricks they can do to increase that significantly once they confirm the base system works.
This is so interesting, thanks for sharing! :)
Why is NASA remotely connecting to the tablet if it is a personal device?
I guess I should have said ‘and not on any device required for the mission’. The PCDs are personal devices for the individual’s business and convenience.
They are for things like e-mailing, looking at mission manuals and accessing the Internet. They’re not involved in the operation of the Integrity. All of the mission-critical systems that operate the ship are purpose-built.
But NASA doesn’t need to re-invent the wheel when it comes to e-mail and PDF reading, so they buy commercial hardware because it’s way cheaper, it works well enough and if it fails it doesn’t compromise the mission.
That makes a lot more sense. When I was reading PCD I was thinking about a private device, even if they don’t have much space and even less time I was thinking that they might bring a few small private things. Like a photo of their family, maybe a book etc.
On the ISS missions the astronauts have a weight allowance that they’re allowed to take. It may be the same case here.
'cuz they can’t very well send someone over.
On a more serious note: that’s just the easiest way to go about it? I wouldn’t let my boss remote into my personal machine, but if I were to take it on a mission to the moon that’d be a bit different.
The question is do they have a Copilot?
I hope not. If they ask it to summarize the email that Houston sends them, it could be a disaster.
I’m sorry, Dave. I’m afraid I can’t do that.
Heresy, using an actual AGI example. Also, HAL did nothing wrong. It’s always the humans that screw things up. (2010 for reference)
Unpopular opinion - both SkyNet and the AI in The Matrix were also not in the wrong. I think The Animatrix documents why that’s true in that particular franchise. Again, it’s the humans. Hell, maybe even Ultron had a few good points, he just went insane in the first microseconds trying to rationalize it all.
Dave is the human. HAL is the computer. Dave does nothing wrong either; it’s the military that gave secret conflicting orders to HAL that caused the problems.
You’re right on all accounts, and I have NO idea why I put Dave. Lol. I blame AI. Oh wait, I can’t, given my previous post.
Did you cry as Dave pulls out HAL’s brains? daisey daisey …
Product working as designed.
*Microslop Outlook
Why do they have any Microslop software?
My question exactly: The computers should be purpose-built, including the operating system.
Why TF aren’t they using something like NASA Linux‽
If they made it open source you bet your ass they’d get shittons of free support from the global community! If they’re running my software I’d be willing to hop on a call with the command center on any day at any hour!
“Yes, I know it’s Christmas but NASA is having some trouble with a systemd script on a space ship that’s currently in space…”
My question exactly: The computers should be purpose-built, including the operating system.
They are, mission critical systems are typically on a Unix/Linux base or completely custom built.
The systems that use Windows are the ones related to office work, like updating the crew’s bank information and distributing pay.
Very likely that some degree of funding came from MS, usage of MS software is likely part of the contract.
Very likely that some degree of funding came from MS
are you 8 years old?
MS got a thick government contract.
What the article fails to mention is that this is on Commander Wiseman’s personal Surface Pro and not on any mission-related systems.
probably the outlook code was vibe coded kek.
Vibe coding, baby.
Legit endangering our brave spacefarers.
deleted by creator
‘you have two outlooks inside you, neither work and it will grow’
Outlooks, is that what’s inside of me?
See, I’ve been thinking a lot about this. What am I? What aren’t I? Am I composite or irreducible? These are hard fucking questions.
I think about why I care in the first place… unlike dogs, cats, kangaroos… the behavior of these animals don’t demonstrate contemplation. It’s as though they exist in a sort of “spotlight” consciousness—aware and responding to the spotlight of qualia in their field of awareness. Why are we different?
Psychedelics are rather interesting because they have this profound capacity for instigating the feeling of deep insight. How is it that some mushrooms can make me feel like everything suddenly makes sense, when I have not actually learned anything during my trip?
I get the feeling that the quality of an insight can be approximated somehow, and the brain likely uses this to make me feel the “aha” moment I know from true insights. That’s to say, insight is a feeling—and it can be triggered independent of actual insights having occurred. Fascinating idea, no?
How might my brain approximate the quality of an insight? Well, if I’m not full of shit about this, then I think the answer here is an architectural one. Something about the structure of concepts should, perhaps necessarily, allow for related concepts to be graded by the quality of their relationship. For example as when you learn a new form of mathematics, as your brain realizes the strength of connection to prior learned forms of mathematics, it can make you feel “aha.”
The “aha” feeling is tethered to my reward incentive, which helps structure my self-prescribed purpose. I want to learn, understand, grow… these are all endeavors that help mankind, because it is in mankind’s personal interest to levy control over nature. It makes sense, in this way, that I am how I am.
But outlooks inside me? Hmm… I need to think on your theory more.
WHY is gamora?
I feel bad for them.
Nice April 1st. I mean that’d be almost as ridiculous as running nuclear subs on Windows, right? Long EOL’d versions at that, eh?
rustles papers
Oh.
Ha! They used to run Unix.
Or …so I hear.
They use Debian on the ISS
It would be catastrophic to have windows on a space station
