Text Size

NASA offers Mars24 "sunclock" app for Mac OS X

updated 02:00 am EST, Mon January 12, 2004

NASA Mars24 \"sunclock\"

NASA's that "purports to be derived from the application used in mission control. It's the only app I know that depends on the new Java3D frameworks, and may be the reason why they were released by Apple." [updated with Maestro info]

Meanwhile readers note that the Mars Rover uses a variation of PowerPC chips: "The computer in each Mars Exploration Rover runs with a 32-bit Rad 6000 microprocessor, a radiation-hardened version of the PowerPC chip used in some models of Macintosh computers, operating at a speed of 20 million instructions per second."

 
Previous Comments

20 million/sec

01/12, 03:49am reply

That's 20MHz :)

MacNN.com Reader

Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Jul 2001

0

martian CPU hog ?

01/12, 05:16am reply

I tried Mars24 a few days ago and found (according to top) that it was using 60% of CPU.

Michael

MacNN.com Reader

Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Jul 2001

0

Nope

01/12, 08:15am reply

20 MIPS != 20 MHz

MacNN.com Reader

Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Jul 2001

0

CPU Hog!

01/12, 08:16am reply

You're not kidding! On my dual 2 GHz G5, Mars24 uses 30% of the CPUs! Not a program to leave on in the background!

MacNN.com Reader

Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Jul 2001

0

True...but

01/12, 09:54am reply

20MIPS != 20MHz. That's true. Nevertheless, the processor does run at 20MHz. Writing it out as 20 millions instructions per second is just NASA's way of talking to the layman.

MacNN.com Reader

Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Jul 2001

0

Mars24 is a Java app

01/12, 12:26pm reply

just goes to show you. *shrug*

MacNN.com Reader

Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Jul 2001

0

I like it...

01/12, 02:03pm reply

It would be cool if you could make it your desktop....but its still cool. ^.^

MacNN.com Reader

Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Jul 2001

0

yes

01/14, 02:37pm reply

yeah...20 MHZ, but thats what they are looking for probably, they don't want to waste clock cycles, and thus save battery life with this slow speed.

MacNN.com Reader

Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Jul 2001

0

Popular News