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PlayStation 1 CPU powers #PlutoFlyBy / NewHorizon probe
- Thread starter Man
- Start date
Ha ha!! I love this. You should call them and let them know.
Thinking of the N64, Nintendo didn't do that exactly. Nowadays, with the third incarnation of the Gamecube, one could say yes.
Theonik
Member
Yes, there are still small improvements being made to MIPS but they are mostly used in the embedded market. You are right that there is active development in that branch.
BjornTheBear
Banned
Have you tested it... IN SPACE?
Crimson_Gold
Member
Crazy Ken is an intergalactic boss.
Your Pentium 4 does not have to deal with the kinds of radiation that a typical spacecraft is exposed to. Reliability in this case probably translates to shielding / redundancy / radiation hardening. Low power consumption is also hugely important, and most Pentiums were *really* not designed with that in mind.
For those advocating an x86 solution, I believe that AMD Geode chips were sometimes used in satellites. That may still be true, though AMD stopped updating the line in 2009.
killatopak
Member
All these people saying a pentium or something else is much better think they are smarter than NASA guys of all people.
PS1 the GOAT.
PS1 the GOAT.
wowbaggerBR
Member
The most amazing thing is that the version which had gone to Pluto is actually considerably slower than the one we've got on the PSOne.
PSOne: 33 MHz
New Horizons: 12 MHz
PSOne: 33 MHz
New Horizons: 12 MHz
OuterLimits
Member
So New Horizons probe can play PS1 games but my PS4 can't? Come on Sony. 
Dreamwriter
Member
They were going to run it at full speed, but couldn't find an extension cord for the power outlet that was long enough.
As for 486, I've seen 486-based PCs crash a whole heck of a lot more than I've seen a PSX crash. The PSX CPU is quite a bit simpler and less power hungry, which is important for a long mission away from human hands like this.
Seems you know more about CPU technology in space probes than the scientists at NASA. Shame you weren't working for them at the time.
It's a shame you don't realize how little your opinion matters in this technical matter.
mckmas8808
Mckmaster uses MasterCard to buy Slave drives
Less about horsepower and more about power consumption. Plus, it's NASA. I think they have an idea about how to build something to last within insane constraints.
FriedConsole
Banned
Those little green men living on Pluto are going to really enjoy Syphon Filter.
BouncyFrag
Member
Hype for No Mans Sky intensifies.
*waits for NASA to be peppered with questions of what do you do when exploring outer space only then to have those answers ignored before another salvo of the same question commenses*
*waits for NASA to be peppered with questions of what do you do when exploring outer space only then to have those answers ignored before another salvo of the same question commenses*
Ivan Amiibo
Banned
The simpler the better when it comes to space, there's nothing fundamentally wrong with 20+ year old CPU architectures. The probe isn't actually doing much that's computationally expensive, it's receiving raw data from sensors, sending and receiving radio and occasionally firing thrusters. Worst case it's calculating its correct orientation.
Also consider the data connection from the probe is 1kbit/s, there's no hurry to do much in a hurry.
Also consider the data connection from the probe is 1kbit/s, there's no hurry to do much in a hurry.
Darth Smurf X
Member
Something, something, no games.
I wonder if the Plutonians will be able to play Twisted Metal. I hope they sent controllers too.
I wonder if the Plutonians will be able to play Twisted Metal. I hope they sent controllers too.
Console Galactic Race.
MikeE21286
Member
I'm trying so hard to make a 4D reference out of this.
Just don't think I can make it happen....
Just don't think I can make it happen....
Ivan Amiibo
Banned
actual photo of kutaragi flying by pluto
Ummm...heat, size, power consumption...take your pick. For the specific things needed, why would NASA choose such overkill with a more general purpose platform like Pentium.
Not to mention the packaging required to make it suitable for space travel, and the fact that the Sony processor is still manufactured for embedded systems while the Pentium 4 is, most assuredly, not.
Goodacre0081
Member
I wonder if it has to fly upside down to work properly
yes I realize there is no right-side-up in space!
This explains why the textures on Pluto were warping and shimmering as I watched it fly by in the live simulation on the Nasa's Eyes App.
Watching the satellite turn and spin to take data and then "broadcast" towards earth is really neat actually.
Watching the satellite turn and spin to take data and then "broadcast" towards earth is really neat actually.
I laughed out loud at this, I admit it.
Could you imagine if it sold to just 1% of another planet? They would outsell the iphone.
Depends on the planet.
Is this another reference? Not sure what you mean.
diggmcbadass
Member
I'm pretty sure Pentium line is considered one of the worst mainstream CPUs made. To the point where it can return wrong results on floating point calculations (in addition to P4 having worse performance/clock than the P3)
RISC over CISC. I would imagine it is much easier to debug which needs to be easy when the machine is 4 billion km away and communicating with the backup computer.
Ban Puncher
Member
New Horizons probe cannot do full character switching in X-Men vs Street Fighter confirmed.
Sega Saturn > NASA
Sega Saturn > NASA
LamerDeluxe
Member
Intel and AMD PC CPU's won't be the most efficient because they always have to be backwards compatible with old PC CPU's. They convert old CISC instructions to RISC instructions internally. A real RISC chip would be much more efficient.
Also, if you don't need more speed, why waste precious energy and reliability on it.
Also, if you don't need more speed, why waste precious energy and reliability on it.
lol
attn nasa, you should have consulted with BrettHeazy before you built your space ship that is now flying past pluto, over 4 billion miles from earth
Piffle! Long before this, the MOS 6502 processor (and variants) found on all these machines (in no particular order) was installed as a part of the Hubble Space Telescope, giving us beautiful images for decades -
...and loads more that I couldn't be bothered to find images for. I can't actually find anything about it online but I remember C64 magazines going on about it at some point back in the day, with one claiming that the "C64's serial bus" is also on the Hubble.
...and loads more that I couldn't be bothered to find images for. I can't actually find anything about it online but I remember C64 magazines going on about it at some point back in the day, with one claiming that the "C64's serial bus" is also on the Hubble.
GifGafIsTheBestGaf
Member
hopefully, when earth is invaded they can force activision to loose a bit so ND can do another Crash Bandicoot game
Unknown One
Member
People are actually mad over this news? That is hilarious.
wowbaggerBR
Member
Exactly. Reliability and small power footprint are key to understand this.
And let's not forget that the chip have to be able to withstand some nasty space radiations.
Plus, it performs some mundane tasks, like managing communications and guidance. It's not out there to analyze stuff, so it doesn't need to be all that powerful and complex.
This is the job of the NASA guys here, on Earth.
Little did anyone (but Nasa) knew was that Crazy Ken was building space probes that happened to play video games rather than a console that happened to be a space probe. Being rejected at Nasa he now has the final laugh.
PS4 ruined everything.