There were lots of interesting topics discussed in the recent Ubuntu Summit, but one in particular might just tickle the fancy of most any techie above 30: the story of how Doom was actually running in space. Programmer Ólafur Waage recounted the tale of when his team took part in the European Space Agency's hacking challenge and got the seminal game running on a satellite.
The satellite in question was the now-decommissioned OPS-SAT "flying laboratory," whose sole purpose in life was to be a playground of sorts for improving "mission control and onboard satellite systems." It measured only 10 x 10 x 30 cm (3.94" x 3.94" x 11.81") and carried an onboard computer the ESA said was "10 times more powerful than any [ESA spacecraft at the time]".
