[plug] Penguins in space? Linux Rocket Hits the Launch Pad

[Leon Brooks]

Deem the occasional [...] implied.

    http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,59144,00.html

    "There's nothing like getting 25 people out to a desert in
    the middle of nowhere for a launch and knowing if you screw
    up, your rocket will become a giant lawn dart," Greenberg
    said.

    "There's no fancy equipment, so a lot of what we use as
    test equipment turns out to be hacked development boards,
    blinking LEDs, and occasionally a loud buzzer which scares
    the hell out of everyone."

    The flight computer runs a stripped-down version of Debian
    Linux, with the 2.4.20 Linux kernel.

    "It's probably not the best system, but it's available and
    cheap, and there's nothing like seeing if your wireless card
    will withstand 15 Gs for 10 seconds without ripping apart,"
    Greenberg said.

    "We're all about free software and open hardware," Greenberg
    said. "Everything we do is published on the Net. So many
    amateur groups don't publish their work. We think that's sad
    and a waste. We'd be years ahead if we knew technical
    details of other amateur projects." 

    "Hopefully people won't make the same mistakes we did, since
    we've published them all -- except for the really dumb ones.
    They were just too embarrassing."

    But Greenberg said his group shouldn't be held to any firm
    time lines for launches and advances. 

    "We have a long, brilliant history of building something
    extraordinarily cool," he said, "only to discover later we
    were complete idiots." 

Cheers; Leon