When all else fails..

Did they try working the shaft too ?

Must have already been plugged in.

I can imagine the engineers scratching their heads "The spacecraft is not responding to commands."

Intern: "Did you try turning it off and back on again?"

The old Daddy Pig trick

It’s a 15 y/o spacecraft… Sounds like it’s running Windows 3.1

It happens more often than you’d think

I just fixed my wifi by doing the same thing! Where do I apply for a job at NASA?

Sometimes it's the first thing to try.

Troubleshooting 101: Did you try restarting?

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Have you tried reconfiguring the primary power coupling?

I wonder how long they were on hold.

in an emergency, it always works for me

I tried Cap'n, but it dinna do a bit of good!

I.T. here.... This is the way...

Bet they asked ChatGPT

15 years ago would be Windows XP! Or Vista. Oof.

It's very common. A standard feature of inaccessible computer equipment is called a "Watchdog Timer".

The system has a hardware counter that turns the computer off and on again if the timer gets too high. You then write your software so that it resets the timer at regular intervals. If your software crashes, it won't reset the timer and the computer will restart.

It's a bit more complicated than that, but it's really effective.

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Have you initiated an unexpected powercycle yet?

More lubricant required

It depends on the type of issue but yeah. If you know where the issue might be coming from right away, then you don't have to. It's more of a "have a snickers, you're not you when you're hungry" fix

And percussive maintenance

That's 50% of IT work. "Have you tried turning it off and turning it back on?" I'm a programmer, but I can't even tell you how many times I've asked that when my folks call me about a random computer issue or my wife asks me why such and such isn't working. Most of the time, I'm not at all interested in what the actual problem is, I'm only interested in the resolution.

https://www.usajobs.gov/job/708183700

Built by Microsoft, was it?

Government institutions are always 10 years behind everyone else tech wise. I can believe it.

Thanks, but I think I'll just wait for them to see my comment and come with an offer. I know my worth!

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Moss and Roy would be proud

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As my old man always says: "When in doubt, reboot."

Great moments in IT history.

… read the manual

Not really surprised, it's the most reliable fix

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You joke but "turn it off and on again" happens more often than you'd think at NASA.

This is also how I stay awake at work.

It is pretty crazy, but turning thing off and on really is more helpful than it should be.

I used to work on semiconductor machines that were between $20 and $60 million dollars apiece, and I can't tell you how many times turning off the machine and turning it on fixed some whacky problem.

The New Horizons probe sent out to Pluto had the same CPU as the PlayStation One. Not a CPU of similar performance or using that as a benchmark for comparison, actually the same CPU model used in the PS1. When it launched the PS2 was already out but they like to finalise the hardware years in advance and run extensive tests rather than using cutting edge circuitry.