toggle

AAPL Stock: 497.67 ( -11.79 )

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."


by MacNN Staff

toggle

Comments

  1. MacNN.com Reader

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Jul 2001

    0

    20 million/sec

    That's 20MHz :)

  1. MacNN.com Reader

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Jul 2001

    0

    martian CPU hog ?

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

    Michael

  1. MacNN.com Reader

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Jul 2001

    0

    Nope

    20 MIPS != 20 MHz

  1. MacNN.com Reader

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Jul 2001

    0

    CPU Hog!

    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!

  1. MacNN.com Reader

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Jul 2001

    0

    True...but

    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.

  1. MacNN.com Reader

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Jul 2001

    0

    Mars24 is a Java app

    just goes to show you. *shrug*

  1. MacNN.com Reader

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Jul 2001

    0

    I like it...

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

  1. MacNN.com Reader

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Jul 2001

    0

    yes

    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.

Login Here

Not a member of the MacNN forums? Register now for free.

 
close
Photo
toggle

Network Headlines

toggle

Most Popular

10 Most Read

Recent Reviews

Logitech Cube

The world of mice could often be described charitably as stagnant: it's an endless sea of ergonomic shapes that assume you're sitting ...

NewerTech and Targus USB Hubs For Gifts

A useful holiday present to resolve an ongoing frustration is a multi-port hub. Whether as a stocking stuffer, Chanukah present, or an ...

X-Rite ColorMunki Photo

Color calibration is the art of tweaking your monitor so that the colors represented on screen better match real life and your printer ...

toggle

Most Commented

10 Most Discussed