NASA Ares Rocket Specs to Be Open Source 116
Bruce writes "As a step toward returning to the moon, NASA announced last week that Boeing will be the lead contractor for the Ares I rocket. Interestingly, Popular Mechanics reports that the system's specifications will be 'open-source and non-proprietary' to encourage competition on future contracts."
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Purely Test-Driven Design (Score:2)
Brilliant! We'll do the whole project with TDD. The Pb rocket is just part of the process.
In not too long (Score:1)
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Re:In not too long (Score:4, Funny)
Re:In not too long (Score:5, Funny)
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OT-note: If you really want to learn about myminicity, don't click his link anyway, but go to the myminicity main page [myminicity.com] instead. (And no, I'm not involved in the minicity web site [I do have my own minicity though, but I won
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Re:An obvious attempt to obtain serious QA (Score:5, Interesting)
What seems cool about "open source" relative to this project is that it may make the specifications much more solid in all areas (any interested engineer can spot problems or suggest enhancements, not just NASA paid engineers, but at the same time I doubt that all of the rocket specs CAN be fully open sourced, because if you can put a rocket into space with sufficient accuracy to put a manned craft into lunar orbit, you can also put a warhead on that same rocket and plop it with decent accuracy anywhere in the world.
Which, given the rogue elements in our world and a number of fairly rich folks willing to fund the rogues, is, as you might surmise, NOT A GOOD THING.
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Watch what you say there, because the shuttle's software code is some of the best stuff out there, given that it is multiply redundant, and hasn't had a major failure that I know of, ever. The shuttle software team is known for doing code reviews at a level that most companies I know of can only dream of -- I remember an article several years ago that showed their code to be provably bug free at a something like 3-4 bugs per 500,0000 lines of code.
I think the article you're referring to is They Write the Right Stuff [fastcompany.com].
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Granted, most of the code we write doesn't have quite that strong an incentive in terms of code quality. If the web page isn't exactly right, it's not that big a deal. But as a programmer in corporate
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So 14 people have been killed in two shuttle accidents. 14/830 is a 0.017 failure rate or just under 2%. An Astronaut is more likely to die by being killed in a drunk driving accident than on a shuttle flight.
Not bad considering it's the worlds only resuable space flight vehicle. Sure it's more expensive than forseen. and turn around time is greater than originally tho
At last i'll be able to build mine (Score:1)
Open source rules!
What about software? (Score:2)
Surely the specifications will be open sourced, but does it meant the code of the software in it will be opened too? If so I'd love to see some of that hit the front page of The Daily WTF.
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This is the Bush Administration we are talking about. If they wont ship an AMD cpu to Iran, would they really provide inter/intra-orbital software code to be open source ? (Think ICBM)
["bubble-headed total agreement mode" on]
...because, you know, everyone and their dog can get hold of the requisite titanium, rocket fuel, high-precision valves, thermal shielding, Internal Nav Units, and electronics required... You know, all the stuff that makes a delicate and complex-all-to-hell vehicle like, you know, a rocket... fly just fine without exploding in mid-air, or, like, simply catching fire on the launch pad. All we need are, like, you know, these here plans and some duct tape, you know?
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I can hear it now (Score:5, Funny)
PERSUES: 5 by 5 Houston, what's the plan for today? We're only halfway to the moon.
CAPCOM: Persues, we need you to run a few 'patch' commands, we're uploading the diffs now...
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Gitspeed Perseus!
Re:I can hear it now (Score:4, Funny)
RoxetMan: RTFM, noob!
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(10 minutes later)
PERSUES: Houston, we have a problem. Our guidance system says we're now heading for Disneyland...
!Open Source (Score:1)
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I don't think this would be a any country or citizen of any country can get it thing. Not even from P2P programs.
Open source? (Score:5, Informative)
Also, not just Boeing (Score:5, Informative)
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Open source (Score:2)
In theory.... (Score:4, Insightful)
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In what theory, exactly?
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Re:In theory.... (Score:4, Insightful)
Now, if you want to worry that the technology itself might be adapted to weapons, I point out certain political realities.
1. Anyone stupid enough to launch a rocket at the US or other modern nation is toast. Missles can be tracked back to the origin, and the origin will shortly thereafter be reduced to some rather fundamental particles.
2. Anyone wanting to deliver a doomsday suicide nuclear payload or other payload would do MUCH better at MUCH cheaper prices to smuggle it into a port city or across the border. If they're capable of engineering such an attack they can figure that out - and we have no missle to trace back to the origin. Not to mention we can't shoot it down...
The only concern that I might buy would be China or some other large country we're worried about having to fight on a large scale getting access to modern tech they don't currently have. However, most of what they need to figure it out themselves they already have thanks to loads upon loads of outsourcing and buildup of their own economy and academic brainpower. They're trying their own moon shots already, remember? And one of the founding members of their program we chased out of OUR country.
If you want to limit rocket building potential, you'll have to limit everyone else's access to smart people. Otherwise you'll eventually face the problem anyway, after imposing a lot of pain on your own smart people to no particular purpose.
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While I agree with this notion, do recall that we almost faced this situation back in 1962. Cuba, rather Fidel, wanted to launch. Fortunately, others did not. This illustrates that there are some really stupid people out there who would love to acquire and use long rage missile designs. An
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Maybe it would work if it was a solid chunk of iron
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That was Project Thor [wikipedia.org].
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Many people miss the point unfortunately (Score:3, Insightful)
The future of space travel and nanotechnology (Score:4, Interesting)
Imagine, for instance, if someone could take a box of Rocketbuilders out to an island somewhere and deploy it, then sit back as the nanocites build a metal extraction plant, extracted the materials it could get from the sand/ground, built pipes into the sea to process metals that are there, etc. It'd build a gantry, then assemble a rocket from specs and finally fuel it from hydrogen and oxygen cracked from the water.
An open source rocket would be a neat, easy way to get a good start for a project to create the instructions for these assemblers. I figured the big open source project when this technology came onto the scene would be digitizing and CAM'ing the specs for, say, the Saturn V (moon rocket). Make it easy enough to grow these launchers, and folks could launch prefabbed housing and supplies no problem. Just find the right spot, maybe rent an acre of seafront property with no downrange population, and go for it.
Sure, it's fantasy at this point, but who knows? This is a shot across the bow for folks that are inevitably going to say "This is a stupid idea. What use is an open source rocket if you aren't a huge government or company with a bajillion dollars/euros/rubles to spend?".
Sure, maybe the reward isn't obvious now, but what about sometime in the near future?
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"the specifications will be open-source and non-proprietary"
Not the technology, not the software, not the blueprints, just the specifications.
It's a pretty shitty deal for Boeing. After they spend billions subcontracting & integrating all these diverse systems, NASA is going to farm things out to the lowest bidder & bypass Boeing.
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In short, Burt Rutan ain't gonna be building one of these in a garage at White Sands.
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If monkeys flew out of my butt, they could design and build a rocket for half the budget it takes NASA!
When will the manufacturing be open source? (Score:5, Insightful)
More than a new rocket design, we need a new rocket manufacturing technology that cranks out high quality rockets for very little per each additional rocket.
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But be that as it may, it is still interesting that they even published the specifications, given the forces at wor
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Maybe when it makes financial sense to do so? Which could be never or when the information is old enough to be worthless.
The investment it takes to make a competitive manufacturing plant is enormous. Those making that investment (shareholders) want a return on their investment and aren't going to want to give away that work such that competitors can upgrade their plants at half the cost.
The reason why open source works for software is that it costs practically no
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Yes, but building the manufacturing systems is *expensive*. It is nearly hand-made machinery with ridiculous tolerances and materials. Having the design won't do you much good without the industrial base to support the building.
Making it easier for China (Score:1)
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- WWII
- Space Race
- Cold War
The U.S. won these because it's an economic powerhouse, not because it was technologically superior. Heck, Germany was kicking our asses on technology in WWII and Russia was ahead of us for most of the space ra
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Dude, China currently has more US currency reserves than the US does, and almost everything you buy was made by them -- your trade deficit with China is massive. Don't underestimate what China could do if they mobilized.
That mostly happened on its o
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It also has a population of 1.3 billion people among which those resources are spread. The US's economic backbone is based on a mere 300 million. That's about a 4:1 difference. The US is still more economically powerful, and will remain that way for now. I'll start worrying when modern living conditions, technology, and high-paying jobs become available to ALL 1.3 billion Chinese, and not just those living in major cities.
Or to put it blunt
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Do you really think China is run that way now? I will have to inform you that Mao is dead now and a lot of China privately curses his memory and publicly goes the other way.
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Wake [washingtonpost.com] the [slashdot.org] hell [slashdot.org] up [slashdot.org]!!!
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That's a disingenuous comparison, since China doesn't have anything even remotely similar to our shuttle program. They're certainly growing, but they've got a long ways to go to even rival Russia's diminished program. We "can't keep our shuttle program straight" yet the shuttle launches 3-4 times per year, with 7 people and up to 50,000 pounds of cargo. The Chinese have launched 2 missions in 4 years with a
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I find this very funny. There is the assumption here that the borrowing country has the finances to build the rocket but the lending country which has more funds does not. Of course the USA already has more of the required infrastructure so the cost would be less but the parent poster is very much out of touch.
I thought that said Arse Rocket. (Score:1)
How open will it truly be? (Score:4, Informative)
Further reading about ITAR can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Traffic_in_Arms_Regulations [wikipedia.org]
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Change of heart? (Score:3, Funny)
WRONG on so many accounts (Score:3, Informative)
So many aspects of the technology are protected by ITAR, that no matter of how open you may want to make any other parts, its not going to be "open" in any traditional sense.
Plus, there is high likelyhood that Ares-I will never fly, because its ( again ) grossly over its initial cost estimates, falls short of any reasonable performance goals, and is not liked by anybody but few managers and select few policicans with certain interest areas, who are shoving this completely bass-ackwards technical solution to the launch problem down everyones throats.
Just look up the DIRECT launcher [directlauncher.com] concept and the discussion surrounding it, and see what i mean. It was conceived and proposed by a group within NASA under the radars to provide a sane, working alternative to the Ares-I fiasco, way sooner and way cheaper, with performance to spare.
Ares-I is the reason why the NASA lunar return plans are late, underwhelming and underperforming even before they got off the ground, and may well be in danger of cancellation, post elections.
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It's interesting. It would be wonderful if NASA could explore both approaches, plus a third, expendable cargo lifter to be piggybacked shuttle-style to a standard shuttle external fuel tank.
Unfortunately, such budget decisions are not my responsibility
Translation (Score:3, Funny)
This is the Avionics / control systems... (Score:4, Interesting)
This isn't the rocket motors or physical stages. They want people to be able to propose upgraded computer systems, gyros, GPS units, etc. without having to rebuild the whole guidance system from scratch. So you make it modular, you use a technology like Avionics Full-Duplex Ethernet as the networking PHY and Datalink layers, you specify a realtime IP stack and the higher level protocols to use for transmitting status and position and control codes, etc.
Having to maintain 40-year-old computer and navigation equipment designs for the Space Shuttle has made everyone open to the idea of modular, upgradable, scalable, etc...
National Security. (Score:2)
this is for the avionics, not the rockets (Score:2)
ok kids.. (Score:1)
This is B.S. (Score:2)
There is no way (Score:1)
- B
Oh boy (Score:2)
Just keep me off the Ares IV crew (Score:2)
Excellent (for China) (Score:2)
In other news (Score:1)
"Crashing mechanism shouldn't be under open bid the first place, we know who's the best and we only accept the best." NASA spokesman said.
"We can do this in our sleep." Microsoft spokesman said.
I can see it now... (Score:2)