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Date: Sun, 6 Jul 1997 06:43:06 -0400 (edt) From: Ryan Anderson <randerso@ece.eng.wayne.edu> Subject: Re: Hack the Mars rover
Somehow, I don't think that's the place to mount an attempt to take it over. The prohibitive cost of getting an antenna into space where you can counter some of the effects of Earth's spin and keep the damn rover in contact all the time would be the biggest problem.
The place to attack is the up-link. This requires physical access (ie a van with a dish and xmtr.) as well as a means to crack the encryption on the control channels. At least one French satellite has been cracked and de-orbited via a network attack.
Besides, how much encryption is needed between two points if intercepting the traffic is expensive, the communications protocol is undocumented (as far as anyone outside NASA is concerned), and the actual frequency is also hard to find?
The communications are not only documented but easily observable with the correct commercialy available equipment. The frequencies are a matter of public record, I would further bet that 5 minutes with a search engine would bring that data to light... ____________________________________________________________________ | | | _____ The Armadillo Group | | ,::////;::-. Austin, Tx. USA | | /:'///// ``::>/|/ http:// www.ssz.com/ | | .', |||| `/( e\ | | -====~~mm-'`-```-mm --'- Jim Choate | | ravage@ssz.com | | 512-451-7087 | |____________________________________________________________________|