So, we all remember the Y2K fuss, right? It seems there’s one prominent computer system that has issues with the turning of the year every year. From Reuters:
But NASA managers still do not want to launch Discovery knowing it would be in space when the calendar rolls over to January 1, 2007.
The problem, according to Hale, is that the shuttle’s computers do not reset to day one, as ground-based systems that support shuttle navigation do. Instead, after December 31, the 365th day of the year, shuttle computers figure January 1 is just day 366.
It seems like a silly little issue. However, when you consider how old the Shuttle’s computer systems involved (factoring the technology lag enforced by the need for computer components to be hardened against radiation in space), and the wisdom of the statement, “don’t fix what ain’t really broken”, it’s nice to see NASA having the wisdom to conserve its limited budget by just trying to avoid the problem.