[elcritch]

As always SpaceX and it's mission is just _cool_ (in a geek sense). However, to be honest, Python + rocket code in the same sentence perturbs me somewhat. Python is great for web automation tools and simple scripting situations, but for the love of humanity (seriously, because space travel & exploration), I shudder at the idea of Python being used in a complex rocket control system. Does the team use other tools for embedded or distributed controls?

[rasmi]

The job description above is for internal user-facing tools. Mission-critical systems are done in C++.[1]

[1] https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/1853ap/slug/c8bpr00

[elcritch]

That makes much more sense, the job posting seemed more likely a fit for internal user interface tools. Python certainly is a good fit there, but adding in the parts about touching the rocket code seems... well I just can't comprehend the idea of running Python on a rocket at launch time. Then again, maybe all the cool rocket systems will start having REST APIs. ;)

`curl -X POST rocket10.falcon-9.spacex.com/engine/ignite -d '{"countdown": 10}'`

Would both be amazing and terrifying!

P.S. @parent: I admire the work y'all are doing, Dozbog!

[dominis]

you don't need the `-X POST`, because `-d` will do a post by default :)

[jhhn]

all the systems AND PARAMETERS are redundant in such mission...

[dangirsh]

In case anyone is wondering: no, this is not a sick joke.

[knocte]

facepalm

[webmaven]

Python has had for a very long time both NASA and JPL as marquee customers/users, eg. http://montepy.jpl.nasa.gov/ for mission planning and control applications.

From the MONTE brochure:

The story of MONTE begins in 1998, when JPL’s navigation section commissioned an update to the aging DPTRAJ/ODP library. The goal was to translate these time-tested navigation algorithms from Fortran into a more maintainable, extensible, and better tested C++/Python application.

[elcritch]

Fair enough, though reading some histories there's been a variety of languages used at JPL/NASA, and Python/C++ is a latecomer [1], [2].

1: http://wiki.c2.com/?MarsSpiritSoftwareProblem 2: http://www.flownet.com/gat/jpl-lisp.html

At the end of the day, if Python/C++ is effective for their team and works, then it gets the job done. Personally, I just dislike writing math/simulation code in Python. The syntax is too limiting for that topic and I've run into rather annoying delays when parsing CSV data due to utf8 vs byte vs ascii handling differences when mixing Pyhton 2/3. But mainly, deploying Python code to other users is a pain.

[dagw]

Python is very popular for doing mathematical modelling in every domain you could possibly imagine. Even when the core algorithm isn't done in python, python is great for pre-,and post-processing the results, analysis and gluing everything together.