A few days ago, SpaceX successfully delivered two astronauts to the ISS using the Crew Dragon manned spacecraft. Now it has become known that the on-board systems of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, which was used to launch the ship with astronauts on board into space, are based on the Linux operating system.
This event is significant for two reasons. First, for the first time in ten years, astronauts have gone into space from US soil. Secondly, this launch was the first time in history that a private company delivered people into space.
The Falcon 9 launch vehicle is reportedly running a stripped-down version of Linux that runs on three redundant dual-core x86 computers. The software itself used to control the Falcon 9's flight is written in C/C++ and runs separately on each of the computers. The rocket does not need specialized processors that are reliably protected from radiation, since the returning first stage stays in space for a short time. To ensure reliable performance, redundancy provided by three redundant computer systems is sufficient.
The source does not specify which processors SpaceX uses in its rocket, but it may well turn out that far from the newest and most productive solutions are involved, since this is often practiced. For example, the International Space Station used Intel 80386SX processors with a frequency of 20 MHz, manufactured in 1988. These solutions were used to ensure the operation of the multiplexer and demultiplexer (C&C MDM), but they are not very good for other tasks. In everyday life, astronauts use HP ZBook 15 laptops running Debian Linux, Scientific Linux and Windows 10 software platforms. Linux computers are used as terminals to connect to C&C MDM, while Windows laptops are used to view mail, surf the net Internet and entertainment.
The report also says that before the launch of the launch vehicle, the software and equipment used for flight control is tested on a simulator that is capable of simulating various situations, including freelance ones. Notably, the Crew Dragon spacecraft also uses Linux-based systems along with software written in C++. As for the interface that the astronauts interact with, it is a JavaScript web application. The touch panel used for operation is duplicated by a button interface in case of failure.
Source: 3dnews.ru