Comprock

Hello everyone..welcome to world of COMPROCK

Comprock: when computer science met rocket technology. Usually every one think that the word “ROCKET” or anything related to rocket is completely related to electronics or mechanics,and  no  computer science technology will be used in it. For that reason many  people related to computer science will not concentrate on this subject..

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If we go deeper in to this subject it will be  fascinating to know  that…

“With out a computer engineer no rocket can be launched”

yes,what you read is true and you will accept with me after the following example

                                              

If you observe the picture clearly you can know what actually a computer engineer does in rocket launching station.This is one of the works that are done by a computer engineer in rocket launching.There are many interesting facts like this. We can know them as we go further.

During my visit to SHAR last year i had a oppertunity to know the importance of computer engineers in the space centers .To my understanding, in order to launch a rocket,there will be a set of computers fixed inside the rocket and a certain programming code has been installed in those systems which is related to launch. In order to initiate the launch,a secret key should be encrypted to activate the programming code in the computers which are fixed inside the  rocket . That key will be possessed by the only the person who fixed that code in the computers inside the rocket i.e computer engineer. when the count down for the rocket launching reaches to 0 ,this computer engineer enters the secret key which  will be accepted by the computers in the rocket and the launching takes place from launch pad. This is one of the key processes that takes place during rocket launching, which shows the basic requirement of computer engineer.

After my visit to SHAR i started to belive in the words of Mr.E.W.Dijkstra that

“computer science is no more about computers than astronomy is about telescopes”

If we look details of the actual work done by scientists in the launch centers,they are as follows.

• Generates a code that goes on rockets and spacecrafts.
• Code that supports the design and manufacturing process of rockets and spacecrafts.

They work on everything from large-scale web applications to tiny embedded computing platforms. They build technology stacks on different languages like C#/MVC 4/MSSQL via REST to JavaScript/Knockout/,C++/embedded systems which all together enables to build,launch and monitor stuff that goes to space. Some software engineers develop GUI’s used in mission and launch control.

It will be shocked to believe that once a rocket is destroyed due to a software bug.

If we look into this topic

A rocket named Ariane 5 is destroyed immediately after space shuttle has been launched,to be specific  37 sec .

                            

                      ARIANE 5 ROCKET BEFORE LAUNCHING..

What actually happened to that rocket?what is the bug that was encountered?

INS (Inertial Navigation System)  helps a computer engineer to know the distance travelled by the rocket  and the  height it should take a deviation.Unfortunately the reason behind the failure of Ariane 5 is INS.

The INS attempted to convert 64-bit number to 16-bit number without checking whether the 16-bit was sufficient to hold the value. This resulted in a runtime error that made INS software to stop execution. There will be a backup computer which also encountered the same problem. Then the INS hardware sent an error report to the main computer.This main computer considered it as a potential error and commanded the nozzle to fully deflect to one side.Thus the rocket turned at a sharp angle and was subjected to forces that it was not designed to withstand,and began to breakup and destroy.This is the complete reason behind the rocket destruction. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gp_D8r-2hwk  gives u a clear idea in what way the rocket got exploded.

 This clearly states the role played by a software engineer. Because of a single software bug millions of rupees got wasted and also 1 year of time. A software engineer will be responsible for a rocket to be launched successfully as well as for a rocket to get destroy .

 

This is the place where all the scientists and chairman will watch the rocket launch. From here they monitor all the actions during launching.

There are several scientists who are in a well reputed position and whose background is computer science.one among them is given below.

WILLIAM J.CLANCEY

William clancey is a computer scientist working in NASA. He is a senior research scientist  at the Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition, and on IPA to NASA’s Ames Research center focused on human centered computing.

Not only experienced people are achieving but also most of the youngsters are working in this particular subject and receiving applauds.