Brutkey

AkaSci 🛰🛰️
@AkaSci@fosstodon.org

We all know that solar flares and CMEs, that produce beautiful auroras, are also capable of causing havoc with power and electronic systems. Most systems vulnerable to SEUs are designed to mitigate their effects. But as we know, software is often the Achilles heel. Kudos to Airbus for recognizing the problem early and taking action.

This is not the first such incident. The most famous case is Qantas Flight 72 in Oct 2008 with an A330.

https://www.atsb.gov.au/media/2008/release/2008_43
https://www.flyingpenguin.com/?p=74567
8/n

Graph of cyclic solar activity since 2000, using number of sunspots as the metric. Earth is just past the peak of the current cycle. Source: https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/communities/space-weather-enthusiasts-dashboard
AkaSci 🛰🛰️
@AkaSci@fosstodon.org

Pics of a Portable Data Loader (PDL) units and heavy cable used to upload software to the A320 ELAC computers.

9/n

1. Twet by a320cat @a320cat Translated from Catalan This is how the @airbus problem was solved tonight! 2. Tweet by The Joker @trend_nosig The software update is carried out using a PDL, Portable Data Loader. The actual update is being carried out in this photo. The entire process takes about 15 mins.