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Open Source Mars NASA Software

Flying On Mars Fueled With Open-Source Software (zdnet.com) 44

Posted by BeauHD from the behind-the-scenes dept.
An anonymous reader quotes a report from ZDNet: A small miracle happened at 3:31am ET on Monday morning. Ingenuity, a tiny NASA helicopter, became the first powered aircraft to fly on another planet, Mars. This engineering feat was done with Linux, open-source software, and a NASA-built program based on the Jet Propulsion Laboratory's (JPL) open-source F (pronounced F prime) framework. GitHub CEO Nat Friedman and his team and the JPL Ingenuity crew took a long hard look into the helicopter's code and found that "nearly 12,000 developers on GitHub contributed to Ingenuity's software via open source. And yet, much like the first image of a black hole, most of these developers are not even aware that they helped make the first Martian helicopter flight possible."

They'll know now. Friedman wrote: "Today, we want to make the invisible visible. So, we have worked with JPL to place a new Mars 2020 Helicopter Mission badge on the GitHub profile of every developer who contributed to the specific versions of any open-source projects and libraries used by Ingenuity." The developer list was created by JPL providing GitHub with a comprehensive list of every version of every open source project used by Ingenuity. GitHub could then identify all the contributors who made these projects and their dependencies. Some of those honored, such as Linux's creator Linus Torvalds, are famous developers. Many others labor in obscurity -- but now their work is being recognized. Timothy Canham, a JPL embedded flight software engineer, notes Ingenuity's program is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 running at 2.2GHz, which is "far faster than the Mars Perseverance's rover processors," according to ZDNet. The reason this older chip was used is because it meets NASA's High-Performance Spaceflight Computing (HPSC) radiation standards.

Canham also says the flight control software on Ingenuity runs at 500Hz. The flight software "is used to control the flight hardware and read sensors 500 times per second in order to keep the helicopter stable." Canham added: "We literally ordered parts from SparkFun [Electronics]. This is commercial hardware, but we'll test it, and if it works well, we'll use it."
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Flying On Mars Fueled With Open-Source Software

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  • Wasn't it H.L. Mencken who said news isn't when a dog bites a man but when a man bites a dog? What would have been news is if the RC helicopter was running Windows 10. Linux on the other hand runs everything these days.

    • Wasn't it H.L. Mencken who said news isn't when a dog bites a man but when a man bites a dog? What would have been news is if the RC helicopter was running Windows 10. Linux on the other hand runs everything these days.

      I thought it was running Windows 10, and it had to wait until an update finished, and Windows deleted all the drivers. Those roaming charges to Mars had to be huge.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by tsqr ( 808554 )

      The news isn't that a helicopter is flying with Linux: the news is that a helicopter is flying on Mars. My guess is that H.L. Mencken would have been fairly impressed.

    • Haha Windows? Does anyone remember this? https://www.itprotoday.com/win... [itprotoday.com]

      • to power a helicopter on Mars.

        I would have though some specialized, very tiny real time operating system. You do not need virtual memory, processes, file system, internet stack, or even systemd, But you do need real time guarantees.

        And space CPUs use large transitors to be radiation safe, which means slow.

        • They used lots of off-the-shelf stuff for non-mission-critical things, serving the dual purpose of being able to afford more such things, and proving that off-the-shelf stuff can work in such applications.

        • Probably the linux they use and the software they wrote on top of it has real time guarantees?

          • No, slow signal processing doesn't need real-time guarantees when the processor can handle data orders of magnitude faster than required. Practically all UAVs, missiles and satellites run Linux. (I do this for a living).

            • But once you take out virtual memory, processes, file system, internet stack, most of the drivers, UI, and even the mighty systemd, then what is left of a Linux (or any *nix) system? Something to load and run code, maybe a tiny multi tasking system. Do you really need a kernel mode on small, single purpose system?

              I would have thought an Aduino like system would be more appropriate. Built from the bottom up to be simple.

              Does the same kernel code run both a tiny UAV and a massive data center? Or is it #if

            • No, slow signal processing doesn't need real-time guarantees
              That is basically what I said.

              when the processor can handle data orders of magnitude faster than required.
              Then it has real time guarantees. Perhaps you want to look up again what the term means :P

        • And space CPUs use large transitors to be radiation safe, which means slow.

          There's nothing about a large transistor that makes it inherently rad hard. Modern, high-speed CPUs have gone to space many, many times, including on Ingenuity. I chatted with the rad effects engineer when he was testing the Qualcomm processor used for Ingenuity down at the TAMU cyclotron, and it's the exact same thing you'll find in a cellphone - just test it and characterize the radiation response, if it performs acceptably under radiation (which it did), fly it.

        • You don't need real-time guarantees either. Sampling at 500 Hz is very, very, slow. It is 4 orders of magnitude slower than for example a RF data modem. It is not a problem handling such low data rates with Linux or BSD on a small embedded ARM processor. (BTW, I do UAVs for a living).

  • Amazing (Score:5, Informative)

    by awwshit ( 6214476 ) on Monday April 19, 2021 @07:25PM (#61292336)

    > We literally ordered parts from SparkFun [Electronics]. This is commercial hardware, but we'll test it, and if it works well, we'll use it."

    You can try this at home but don't bet on it working in space or on another planet. For reasons like "The reason this older chip was used is because it meets NASA's High-Performance Spaceflight Computing (HPSC) radiation standards". JPL spends the time and effort to get it right, with amazing results.

    • RAD hardening is overrated. You can run civilian non-hardened hardware in space just fine. It will impact longevity and you'll get more latch-ups but it will work. There are multiple cubesats flying on polar orbits (through high radiation areas) that are built on regular chips.

      Situation might be different inside really hot areas like Jupiter's radiation belts.

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by Anonymous Coward

        Cubesats in Earth orbit still have the benefit of being shielded the Earth's magnetic field for much of its orbit. On Mars, not so much. Also it is MUCH cheaper to put a cubesat in orbit than it is to put it on Mars. While YOU may think radiation hardening is overrated, people who actually give a shit about things working, disagree with you.

        Simply because somebody else does stupid things, doesn't mean you should too.

      • Note that a cubesat will not fall, crash and burn when a processor is restarted by a watchdog timer. Since it stays in orbit due to its momentum, there is literally no flight critical failure event for a cubesat. A helicopter however, needs redundant control system to ensure flight safety and radiation makes critical processor failure events more frequent. However, if a radiation upset happens once in several hours, while a typical mission lasts only a few minutes, then the probability of suffering a cri
    • Reminds me of the technology guy during a meeting with a sales rep of Siemens for micro controllers, when the rep talked about the military grade (125C) of the processors, the tech head interrupted and explained to all present engineers that those parts were only qualified for lower temperatures. The rep: but 125C! Tech head: yeah, low temp for us. Rep: what's high temp? Tech head: 220C, 240C. Rep: you have uC that work at that temp? Tech head: yeah. Rep: who makes such devices? Tech head: for example, your

  • The F-Prime framework runs on the Raspberry Pi (Score:5, Informative)

    by Required Snark ( 1702878 ) on Monday April 19, 2021 @07:42PM (#61292390)
    Currently ported to Raspberry Pi 2 model B. It comes with a command interface that runs in a browser.

    Github [github.com].

  • Fueled? (Score:5, Funny)

    by fahrbot-bot ( 874524 ) on Monday April 19, 2021 @07:55PM (#61292414)

    Flying On Mars Fueled With Open-Source Software

    I thought it was six lithium-ion batteries [nasa.gov] ... Learn something new every day.

  • STL files (Score:3)

    by backslashdot ( 95548 ) on Monday April 19, 2021 @08:52PM (#61292530)

    Why don't they make the design open source? Publish the 3D models (DXF files or whatever), PCB layouts, airfoil design etc. on github. Even experimental data.

     

  • Python, really? (Score:1, Troll)

    by ptaff ( 165113 )

    Python, really?

    I'm surprised that NASA would rely on a volatile language with such a short support time span. I understand this is not a probe that'll be up in 30 years; still why invest resources on something like this that they'll need to rewrite in 5 years because the almighty Python Gods have now decided to break everything again and punish their users with the fun task of updating their perfectly running code for no good reason?

    • Its not surprising really... NASA has turned from having the best and brightest with a focused mission and unlimited budget, to a star trek nerd social club filled with "makers" trying to look kewl with their toys.

      • ... NASA has turned from having the best and brightest with a focused mission and unlimited budget, to a star trek nerd social club filled with "makers" trying to look kewl with their toys.

        What's the difference?

  • Life is open source (Score:3, Insightful)

    by AlexHilbertRyan ( 7255798 ) on Monday April 19, 2021 @09:14PM (#61292566)
    Most of things in our life are open source. Nobody copyrighted the fork, knife, plates, cups, teapot. Nobody copy righted the idea of a school or hospital.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Whibla ( 210729 )

      Most of things in our life are open source. Nobody copyrighted the fork, knife, plates, cups, teapot. Nobody copy righted (sic) the idea of a school or hospital.

      That's because copyright is not the 'appropriate' form of intellectual property protection for the job. Patents however [wedgwoodmuseum.org.uk] are exactly what were used to limit who could create copies of items e.g. teapots. I'll point out that while I chose to link to a rather nifty device from ~1901 there are numerous patents for many of the household items you've listed.

      I'm not sure which amazes me more, that fact that at least two people moderated you insightful, or your thoughts on IP.

      • > That's because copyright is not the 'appropriate' form of intellectual property protection for the job.

        You have been watching too much american tv, i guess my mind would be fucked if i watched it as well along with american sports. The spirit of my comment was to show our lives function just well with the legacy of knowledge which is free of corporate bullshit like copyright and other ip.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by Whibla ( 210729 )

          You have been watching too much american tv, i guess my mind would be fucked if i watched it as well along with american sports.

          I'm sure that sounded like a damning put-down in your head...

          The spirit of my comment was to show our lives function just well with the legacy of knowledge which is free of corporate bullshit like copyright and other ip.

          What it showed is that you're unaware of just how much IP is present in the real world, and that you don't care about precision: the meaning of words and saying what you mean. While there's no doubt that (lawyers acting for) corporations have pushed IP protections and durations passed any justifiable use-case, to the point that they now act counter to their intended effect, wilful blindness isn't a solution. Raging against everything you don't und

          • > What it showed is that you're unaware of just how much IP is present in the real world, and that you don't care about precision: the meaning of words and saying what you mean.
            Of course theres a lot what you fail to understand is that amount is actually quite small when measured against all the other knowledge present in other forms.
            > Just out of curiosity, would you care to take a punt on how many trademarked goods, design and technical patents, and copyrighted programs were involved with the de
    • "Nobody copy righted the idea of a school" - Socrates was executed for the crime of competing with the Athens Academy.

  • " a small miracle "? (Score:3)

    by hcs_$reboot ( 1536101 ) on Monday April 19, 2021 @11:33PM (#61292766)
    > A small miracle happened(...) : Ingenuity, a tiny NASA helicopter, became the first powered aircraft to fly on another planet

    I know it's a first, but the actual true miracle is to travel almost a billion miles, then land safely on another planet, while keeping contact with mother Earth. Sure, Mars atmosphere is different, and it's not "as easy" to fly as on Earth, but, please, moderate the buzz.

  • working audio (Score:4, Funny)

    by Jaegs ( 645749 ) on Tuesday April 20, 2021 @10:19AM (#61294072) Homepage Journal

    per Alix Klingenberg @evolutionises
    I should be sleeping but I'm still thinking about the tweet that said Mars is the planet with the highest percentage of linux devices with working audio

    https://twitter.com/evolutioni... [twitter.com]

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by WallyL ( 4154209 )
      I hope they didn't include short-ranged wireless networking technologies generally associated with IoT-- that would be an act of war, and I for one don't welcome our Martian overlords! [gutenberg.org]
    • Whether you have just started to code or have been in the market for a while, you will find free educational programming tutorials of latest technologies that are available in the market to enhance your skills. Learn to code for free is our slogan. GeeksRead aims to provide resource and news across different https://www.geeksread.com/ [geeksread.com]

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