Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Software Bug Causes Soyuz To Land Way Off

Posted by timothy on from the in-post-soviet-russia dept.

howhardcanitbetocrea writes "A mysterious software fault in the new guidance computer of the Soyuz TMA-1 spacecraft was the cause of the high-anxiety off-course landing over the weekend, according to NASA sources.' Which is why I will never trust the Strategic Defence Initiative - the star wars project. It only takes one line of mistyped code in what will always be a beta release."

6 of 531 comments (clear)

  1. In Soviet Russia... by TheVidiot · · Score: 5, Funny

    ahhh... it's just too obvious!

    1. Re:In Soviet Russia... by Scoria · · Score: 5, Funny

      No, it isn't. I haven't ever observed this joke. Is this intended to be humorous? In Soviet Russia, what? I'm confused. :-)

      --
      Do you like German cars?
  2. Great... by DCowern · · Score: 5, Funny

    Now we have frikken astronauts beating up on poor anonymous software developpers... quoth the article

    There was also the real possibility of crew error, and on Sunday, the head of the corporation that builds and operates the Soyuz spacecraft, Yuriy Semyonov, suggested that "one of the Americans" had pushed the backup-mode activation button. Bowersox was the only American who had any active role in the descent (it was astronaut Donald Pettit's job to follow the checklists), and he denied touching the button -- which, he joked, was being guarded carefully by Russian cosmonaut Nikolai Budarin. "We don't think we did anything to cause that to happen," he later said to a NASA press official.

    Yeah... right... if I had a nickle for every time I heard an end user say something similar to that ("I swear I didn't touch anything... it just... crashed..." or "The files just... disappeared! Gone! Disappeared! I didn't do anything!") I'd have...well...a lot of nickles...

    /me mumbles bittlerly and goes back into his development hole :P

  3. Destructive Testing by peacefinder · · Score: 5, Funny

    "Which is why I will never trust the Strategic Defence Initiative - the star wars project. It only takes one line of mistyped code in what will always be a beta release."

    Well, let's hope it stays in beta. Real world testing would be a major bummer!

    --
    With reasonable men I will reason; with humane men I will plead; but to tyrants I will give no quarter. -- William Lloyd
  4. Re:Why single out SDI? by FredThompson · · Score: 4, Funny

    Yeah, well, the computer chip in your car would make the engine blow up while you're driving at high speed on a crowded road. THE FUCKING ROAD!!! A traffic signal could go wrong and you could get in an accident. A FUCKING ACCIDENT!!! The guidance system on an airplane could have a glitch and you crash. A FUCKING AIRPLANE!!! The registers in the supermarket use lasers to determine your bill. FUCKING LASER BEAMS!!!

    You're being FUCKING STUPID!!!

  5. Re:ah, right by Rolo+Tomasi · · Score: 4, Funny
    Judging from the PATRIOT III missile system we used in Kuwait recently, the technology is just getting better and better.

    Yeah, those British blokes in their Tornado never knew what hit them.

    --
    Did you know you can fertilize your lawn with used motor oil?