This story is really, really scary. NASA can put a man on the moon and send space vehicles to the outer reaches of the solar system, but making computers that can go from December 31 to January 1 is just too much to ask. They’re rushing the Discovery’s launch so that it will be home by New Years Day.

The NASA source is “sure” that, if something goes wrong, they can find a way to keep it up there. That’s reassuring.

First of all, how did people programming a life-or-death computer not think of this, and second, how did it never occur to anyone at NASA to test the computers in a year no shuttle was launching? And is it the brightest idea to send the shuttle up when, in an emergency, you’re not sure how the computers will act?

Of course, this glitch is similar to the Y2K one, which turned out not as badly as expected. But while it’s reasonable that a programmer in the ’80s might not think of what happens December 31, 1999, it’s not quite clear how a NASA programmer wouldn’t consider the effect December 31 of any year could have on his machine.

Gotta love the government.

Robert VerBruggen blogs at http://robertsrationale.blogspot.com.

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