On Dec 17, 2007 8:12 AM, Brian Kelsay <ripcrd@gmail.com> wrote:

Quick answer, yes, it could.  Long answer, maybe, it's not as easy as you think. 

A lot of what's complicated about space-flight software is that it must be automated and more importantly it must be timed just right.  Linux or any other SpaceFlight OS is going to need to monitor fuel burn rate, thrust and altitude.  It will need to monitor and control gimbals on the engines, various consumable stores and other instrument based readings.  It will need to make decisions based on these readings and not get locked up or confused.  It will need to be able to transmit all these readings back home and send some radio signals or change frequency at minimum when key decisions are made.  These are to let ground control know what is going on when they are not in control or too far away to make quick changes.  The further away the craft is, the longer it takes to send a command.

Can it do it, definitely yes.   But each craft and mission is different.  I'd bet that they want the hard real time Linux for this.