Deltashoppe’s Post

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#throwbackthursdays "Wherever there's light, there's bugs" said Henry Allen Ironside. Sadly, the light that shone on Ariane 5 crash in 1996 was about a software bug found in the rocket's internal system called the Inertial Reference System. An overflow error in the processor occurred when the system tried to fit in a 64-bit floating variable into a 16-bit integer (think of driving a Sedan in a very very narrow driveway). Moreover, the backup system needed for debugging was wrongly interpreted by the processor for actual flight data. This resulted in the rocket flipping 90 degrees in the wrong direction and in 40 seconds (after the initial flight): DISASTER STRUCK. A loss of $370m wasn't the only tragedy; this disaster resulted in a delay in scientific research on Earth's magnetosphere for 4 years. If only they had done the proper analysis and seen the problem earlier. If only they had told us back in 1996, we could've helped them out. Don't worry, we are here for you, all you have to do is request a quote at info@deltashoppe.com #Deltashoppe #innovation #developers #qualitycoding #automationtesting #softwarebugs #debugging

  • Ariane 5 disaster

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