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RubyConf 2017: Buuuuugs iiiiin Spaaaaace! by Colin Fulton Space is really cool. From precision electronics, to giant rockets, spacecraft can represent the best of engineering. But sometimes things go wrong. Terribly wrong. What do exploding Soviet rockets have to do with Agile development? How did LISP and Forth hacking save part of the Galileo probe? What about that time astronauts added life-saving monkey patches... while orbiting the moon! Exactly how much damage can a little dead code do? (Hint: a lot!) This talk is for anyone whose love of a good space story is rivaled only by their passion for incredibly resilient software.
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The talk "Buuuuugs iiiiin Spaaaaace!" presented by Colin Fulton at RubyConf 2017 explores the intriguing intersection of software bugs and space missions, showcasing the importance of resilient software engineering practices. The presentation is structured around several riveting stories from space exploration that illustrate how software failures can lead to significant consequences and how creative solutions have been applied in high-pressure environments. Key points discussed in the talk include: - **Miscommunication in Systems**: The crash of a NASA Mars mission illustrates the disastrous effects of using inconsistent measurement units within software, leading to the loss of a multimillion-dollar satellite. - **Innovative Fixes**: During Apollo 14, engineers had to rapidly create a patch to prevent an abort trigger from mistakenly executing before landing on the moon, showcasing real-time problem-solving under pressure. - **Critical Impact of Code Quality**: The failure of the Ariane 5 rocket due to a line of code that caused a floating-point overflow highlights the necessity of thorough testing and the dangers of assuming code operates correctly based on previous experiences. - **Agile Development Lessons**: The Soviet Union's approach towards space engineering emphasized rapid testing and iteration, featuring the NK-33 engine, which used numerous smaller engines instead of a few large ones, leading to innovative results despite challenges. - **The Fragility of Space Systems**: The malfunction of the Galileo probe’s magnetometer due to a single corrupted bit illustrates how delicate and complex space systems can be. The creative use of Forth programming led to an effective patch that saved the system. Fulton's conclusion encourages an appreciation for the lessons learned from past failures in technology and engineering, urging developers to heed historical insights. He suggests resources such as the documentary 'Moon Machines' and the book 'Digital Apollo' for further exploration into the topics discussed.
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