Linux Journal: OSS in Space

“I recently read some interesting e-mails discussing the 1997
Mars Pathfinder mission. Yes, it’s an old topic now; nonetheless,
these e-mails are interesting reads.

“The first message, written by Mike Jones, describes the
so-called software glitch that occurred on the Mars Pathfinder
vehicle while it was on the surface of Mars and how the problem was
solved. An authoritative follow-up message was penned by Glenn E
Reeves, the software team leader from JPL for the Mars Pathfinder
mission.

“To briefly summarize, a software priority inversion problem
caused constant resets of the spacecraft’s software. The problem
finally was tracked down and solved by JPL’s engineers with support
from the software provider, Wind River. Yes, it ran VxWorks…”

Complete
Story