The BBC reports that "[e]arlier this week, thousands of Airbus planes were grounded for a software update after it was discovered that intense solar radiation could interfere with onboard flight control computers."
That issue was discovered after a plane travelling between the US and Mexico suddenly lost altitude as a result of the vulnerability, injuring 15.
More than 6,000 Airbus aircraft needed emergency computer updates in one of the largest ever aviation industry interventions.
Uh huh. Who wants to fly on a plane with a slapped together (fast) software patch?
ReplyDelete"Bit flips". Is that like fiddly bits? /sarc/
Good point. And unless it is some enhanced error check on each byte or word, I don’t see how a software fix will protect against bit flip due to solar radiation.
DeleteNah, it'll be fine.
DeleteThis is actually why NASA has been trying to revive and miniaturize vacuum electronics for the past 18 years (calling it "nanovacuum electronics" or "nanoscale vacuum channel transistors", etc.). The shielding and error correction necessary to keep modern electronics running correctly in high-radiation environments make the computers heavy and slow, respectively, and no one is willing to radically retool to use semiconductors that are naturally more radiation hardened (not that different material would do much good at current size regimes).
DeleteIn spite of it being a constant problem for spacecraft, I never expected it to be a problem for commercial aircraft.
"...unless it is some enhanced error check on each byte or word..."
Yeah, I've never really been privy to the details, but it's my understanding that that's essentially what's happening when they write radiation resistant software. I guess we'll have to get used to slower-reacting autopilots until the physical electronics are changed or shielded.