
MicroPython and the European Space Agency - neokya
http://forum.micropython.org/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=744
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cdnsteve
NASA has been using Python for awhile apparently too:
[https://www.python.org/about/success/usa/](https://www.python.org/about/success/usa/)
Great news for the Python community.

~~~
izacus
Python is actually widely used in scientific community, guys working on data
analysis from CERN LHC are heavily relying on Python + NumPy + SciPy for their
work as well.

It's easy to learn and makes data analysis really easy with "batteries
included" approach (and costs way less than often problematic and buggy MatLab
on Linux).

~~~
jansenvt
PANDAS really is a great thing

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S4M
Naive question: wouldn't lua or scheme be more suitable than python to be
embedded in microcontrollers?

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sciurus
It's not like ESA has commissioned them to start work on a python
implementation for microcontrollers from scratch. Micropython already exists
and works.

Previous discussion:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7840566](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7840566)

~~~
mister_m
Just because it works doesn't mean it is the right solution of course.

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metafex
Does someone know about what SPARC processors they are talking about? I
thought (at least for long-range missions) RAD-hardened PowerPC processors
where the way to go.

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deutronium
Theres a nice explanation here on why they chose them -
[http://space.stackexchange.com/questions/729/why-did-the-
esa...](http://space.stackexchange.com/questions/729/why-did-the-esa-choose-
sparc-for-leon)

~~~
metafex
The linked material in the answer is also higly interesting, including details
about the RAD-hardening. As the decision was made in 1991 to use the SPARC
architecture, it makes sense that they continued the development of their
architecture. It is also good to see that there seems to be VHDL code
available to tinker with the core in FPGAs. Thank you for the link :)

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DonHopkins
If MicroPython is the opposite of Monty Python, then is the European Space
Agency the opposite of the Holy Grail?

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antod
Is that the European Space Agency or the African Space Agency?

~~~
hondaz54
Eh ... I don't know ... AAAAAAARRRRRRGGGghhhhh.

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hitlin37
One of the reason why python is easy to get going is extensive documentation,
especially at python.org.

