Even NASA does not use radiation-hardened components everywhere.SpaceX is currently pursuing numerous programs, which include building reusable launch vehicles, a global telecommunications network, and an interplanetary transport system.
Red Falcon Software Software Power DragonSince were a big fan of SpaceX, it got us thinking: what hardware and software power Dragon spacecraft and Falcon rocket. The advanced rockets, like Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy, are basically a missile that goes into space. So the technology could be easily misused and cause serious damage if it falls into the wrong hands. The situations get even worse once the equipment enters the Earths orbit. For instance, Dragon copes with an enormous amount of heat and cold, ranging from 120C (when facing the Sun) to -150C (when sunlight is blocked by the Earth). It occurs when high-energy particles hit the processor or memory of the spacecraft machine. If particles hit the memory, they can cause a 1 to become a 0 and vice versa, corrupting a specific part of the memory. Because of a single bit flip, processors can have severe effects on a spacecraft. Although it did not suffer from a bit flip, the software tried to put a 64-bit number into a 16-bit address, truncating the number and causing a completely different result. The rocket veered off its flight path 37 seconds after launch and eventually self-destructed by its automated flight termination system. Bottom line: a simple software bug resulted in a loss of over 370 million. ![]() According to the former director of SpaceX vehicle certification, John Muratore, each Dragon spacecraft is equipped with 3 flight computers. Instead, they perform each computation on the two cores separately and compare the results. Therefore, 3 flight computers with dual-core processors act as 6 independent computers that are regularly verifying each others calculations. In this case, the malfunctioning processor is automatically rebooted to prevent further errors. ![]() Well, Dragon is designed to handle extreme situations, including this one. Other than these 3 flight computers, Dragon is equipped with 18 other systems onboard that too use triple redundancy computers, which brings the total number of processors to 54. We are presenting 2012 data, so it is possible that SpaceX is using even more processors in their spacecraft and vehicles to handle the landing. This is because there is no need for extensive usage of radiation-hardened components. Both NASA and SpaceX are studying what effects the radiation could have on their spacecraft. ![]()
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