Beyond

At NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland they have a problem: The Hubble Space Telescope went tits-up on September 27th 2008. When the team tried to activate redundant backup systems they hit a couple of snags which caused the telescope’s 486-processor-driven systems to go into what they describe as "safe-mode" and halt most of its science operations. No that wasn’t a typo: The processor running the main computer is an Intel 486 from 1989.

The Hubble Space Telescope: I wonder if the aliens thought it was an orbiting trash-can at first?

From what I hear they have worked things out and now have the issues under control. They’re hoping that operations will restart this weekend; 25/6th October 2008. The 486 will probably take a month to add a few numbers together and realise it cocked-up perhaps?

Let’s face it though: This massive machine has been in space for 17 years beaming back some amazing images of things we could never hope to see from earth-based equipment. When it was designed back in the 20th Century an Intel 486 was leading-edge technology. - But having now related the truth that we have many tons of ancient technology orbiting our planet; a lot of it still working, the people at NASA say that the old technologies are reliable.

If they do the job that they are supposed to do and keep doing it regardless then there’s no reason to complain. What’s that adage? "They don’t make things as good as they used to."

You could even build it using a 486 if you wanted?

Do you think the technology we put into space is too old; keeping in mind that most of it starts off being designed up to 10 years before lift-off?