'Extreme Programming' Controls Phoenix Mars Lander

pbd points out a story discussing the challenges faced by NASA engineers in designing the code sent to operate the Phoenix Mars Lander. Quoting Computerworld: "On Wednesday, engineers sent up the code to run an actual analysis, but a satellite orbiting Mars, which transfers the data down to the Lander, was offline. Robinson explained that the satellite had been hit with radiation, knocking it into safe mode. 'Space is a harsh environment, and sometimes they just go into safe mode,' he noted. 'It's a minor problem. [The satellite] aborts whatever it was doing and waits for future commanding.' Engineers successfully resent the code on Thursday."

No mention of Extreme Programming

[Anonymous Coward]

This article doesn't state the lander was programmed with Extreme Programming techniques.

There's just one sentence which says something about "presents extreme programming challenges" which is the closest this article comes to mentioning Extreme Programming.

Re:Um what

[Anonymous Coward]

Nothing. Read the summary and the article. They had nothing to do with Extreme programming [wikipedia.org] (or any kind of agile process).

Re:Um what

[roman_mir]

It's definitely more extreme than the so called 'Extreme Programming'. Extreme in a sense that you have to get things right or an extreme amount of time and money will go to extreme waste. That's Extreme. 'Extreme Programming' is mostly about covering your ass, not about getting the code right.

Re:That's coolness

[Innova]

The Mars missions have been nothing short of exemplary awesomeness.

I couldn't agree more....with one exception [wikipedia.org]

Re:That's coolness

[harlows_monkeys]

TFA appear to be wrong. It runs VxWorks 5.2 [windriver.com].

The confusion probably arose because Wind River also sells a Linux version, and the press sometimes confuses that with VxWorks.

Some other interesting points about that article

[Fallen Andy]

1. Only 8 ovens, which can't be used more than once. Hence all the painstaking deliberations

about when to really go for a scoop of soil.

2. Only 3 months before it will get too cold and the lander will (probably) die.

3. Martian day, (roughly 24hrs 40mins).

The NASA programmers have been my heroes ever since the hacks they did to Voyager.

I guess after they've finished the programmers will take up something more relaxing (like working for EA).

Andy

Re:Say What!?

[Xiaran]

There can be lots of reasons. I like Linux as much as the next guy and have been using is since back in the days when I installed it on my 386 from dozens of floppies(and nearly fried my CRT monitor several time configing X :) Those were the days :) ). But I used to work on a project that used QNX. I was often pestered by people saying "Why cant you do that in WIndows" and then "Why cant you do that in Linux". Frankly we didnt because

1. We had years of libraries that were QNX specific
2. There were real time requirements that Plain Linux was not up to(real time linux may be... but you are talking a major porting project)
3. We had literally man-decades of programming experience in our team.
4. We were using a database soultion that was not available on Linux(and is still not)

SO the upshot is... it is often a decision to either have something working now to do the job or wait another few man-years before a (probably buggier) version is done for Linux. Its not anti-Linux. Its just common sense.

Re:That's coolness

[homer_s]

Yes, they used tax payers' money, and I'm pretty glad that I helped contribute in some way.
That is the issue, isn't it? You might be glad, but there are people who do not want to contribute and they were forced to do so.

Not sure if you have noticed, but there are a few things we are running out of here despite China's one child rule.... room, food, fuel, and some other less dramatic things. Mother nature has a way of balancing things, so she'll kill a lot of us off.
This [wikipedia.org] might interest you.