‘Radiation upset’ confused computers and caused false alarm on International Space Station
- Reference: 1616738232
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2021/03/26/iss_radiation_false_alarm/
- Source link:
Wednesday’s [1]daily station report from the ISS mentioned that the Crew-1 Dragon spacecraft parked at the space station “experienced an unexpected wakeup triggered by false ISS emergency alarms caused by erroneous data from the Dragon 1553 driver in one of the power units.”
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ISS crew swapped out a power unit string, rebooted, and returned Dragon to “fully nominal, quiescent operation.”
Which is good news because Crew-1, the first commercial spacecraft to carry crew to the ISS, is essential if crew want to go home.
[3]
NASA’s analysis of the incident is a belief it “was caused by a radiation upset with low likelihood of reoccurrence.”
They’ve only gone and bloody done it – yawn – again! NASA, SpaceX send four to ISS [4]READ MORE
As explained [5]here , NASA is aware that energy imparted by radiation can flip bits inside computers and make them misbehave. Indeed, the agency also records the [6]explains the Hubble Space Telescope’s electronics are impacted by radiation, and the story of a ThinkPad 760XD behaving badly on the Space Shuttle back in the day.®
NASA’s [7]daily station reports from the International Space Station are often dull enough to destroy dreams of becoming an astronaut, so routine are many of the toilet-cleaning, cargo-hauling and antivirus software updating activities it records.
The Register keeps an eye on it anyway in case of interesting tech-related activities. This week we were rewarded with a two-day epic Ethernet re-cabling adventure of the Joint Station LAN, which appears to be getting new Gigabit-capable cables.
[8]
There's also a slightly disturbing update about a "~1-pound decrease in the wastewater tank quantity. Based on this decrease, it is believed there is ~1-pound/day leak within the Cat Reactor." Work is under way to sort out the mess, and the faulty equipment. ®
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[1] https://blogs.nasa.gov/stationreport/2021/03/24/iss-daily-summary-report-3-24-2021/
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2YF2@1pXIBhHfZNkgP2epqQAAAA8&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YF2@1pXIBhHfZNkgP2epqQAAAA8&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[4] https://www.theregister.com/2020/11/16/crew_1_launch_success/
[5] https://www.nasa.gov/feature/how-nasa-prepares-spacecraft-for-the-harsh-radiation-of-space
[6] https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/flyout/flyfeature_shuttlecomputers.html
[7] https://blogs.nasa.gov/stationreport/
[8] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YF2@1pXIBhHfZNkgP2epqQAAAA8&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[9] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
The sun's popty ping ...
We're heading into Solar Cycle 25 which is expected to peak by June 2025 so this might just be the start. The Carrington event was cycle 10's peak.
I think (but not sure so feel free to correct!) that the ISS is low enough that it is protected by the Earth's magnetic field for the majority of solar issues. I don't know if it is clear whether this incident was Solar or Cosmic radiation though. And obviously, such protection just reduces the incidence, not stops it altogether.
If I recall correctly, although there is an increased risk from long term spaceflight (even in the relatively low altitude ISS), the only time that specific events (such as Solar flares) have needed to be considered was for the Moon missions where the astronauts were outside the magnetically protected zone. I don't recall that any special consideration was given to the electronics but as it was significantly "chunkier" back then (yup, technical term, that is) it may well have been much less sensitive to such things!
I know that solar flares can be an issue for satellites (but not sure whether that is all of them or whether geo-stationary are more at risk, being further out). But, as shown here, computer systems can get messed up by a single bit flip whereas lifeforms are a bit more resistant (but not invulnerable) to similar events.
A pound of water
An unusual (to me) use of an imperial weight unit to describe a volume of liquid, allowing even for left pondian foibles it seems odd as they usually go for quarts, cups or ounces.
But this is space where I would expect metric units of mass or volume.
I would expect metric units
NASA do use metric, but they have to convert for the (US) public...
It's a right pain, as NASA TV do the same - which means I have no idea how much trust, how fast. etc. Would it be that hard for them to use both system?
Re: A pound of water
In most of the world: "A pint of pure water weighs a pound and a quarter" ( a gallon - 8 pints - weighs ten pounds )
In America: "A pint's a pound the world round"
Yes, I do see the irony in the second rhyme.
Re: A pound of water
" In America: "A pint's a pound the world round" "
Which is funny, because when I asked for a pint in a bar in New York I got half a pint.
Wolowitz space toilet...
They aren't still using the Wolowitz space toilet are they - that could explain the decrease
Cat Reactor?
What will they think of next, hamster-powered generators?
I suppose in space it all comes down to a weight/energy ratio - if it's one hamster to the kWh but 2.5 cats then the cat reactor wins ... but if porcines are 3.5 kWh then we'll have PIGS IN SPAAAAACCCEEE!
Keep mew-ving along ...
What the plan for a solar storm?