Incident: Data Glitch in Voyager 1's Attitude Control System Corrupts Telemetry.

Published Date: 2022-08-30

Postmortem Analysis
Timeline 1. The software failure incident with the Voyager 1 spacecraft happened in May, as mentioned in Article [131807]. 2. Published on 2022-08-30 07:00:00+00:00. 3. The software failure incident with the Voyager 1 spacecraft occurred in May 2022.
System 1. Attitude Articulation and Control System (AACS) of Voyager 1 spacecraft 2. Onboard computer known to have stopped working years ago 3. Telemetry data transmission system of Voyager 1 spacecraft [131807]
Responsible Organization 1. The attitude articulation and control system (AACS) on Voyager 1 was responsible for causing the software failure incident by sending telemetry data through an onboard computer known to have stopped working years ago, which corrupted the information [131807].
Impacted Organization 1. Voyager 1 spacecraft [131807]
Software Causes 1. The software cause of the failure incident was the attitude articulation and control system (AACS) sending telemetry data through an onboard computer known to have stopped working years ago, which corrupted the information [131807].
Non-software Causes 1. The Voyager 1 spacecraft experienced a data glitch due to the attitude articulation and control system (AACS) sending telemetry data through an onboard computer that had stopped working years ago, corrupting the information [131807].
Impacts 1. The software failure incident caused Voyager 1 to send back weird, garbled telemetry data from its attitude articulation and control system (AACS), potentially leading to data corruption [131807].
Preventions 1. Regularly conducting system checks and maintenance to ensure all components, including the onboard computers, are functioning properly [131807]. 2. Implementing redundancy in critical systems to mitigate the impact of a single component failure [131807].
Fixes 1. The software failure incident on the Voyager 1 spacecraft, where the attitude articulation and control system (AACS) was sending garbled telemetry data through a non-functional onboard computer, was fixed by instructing the AACS to switch back to the correct computer for sending data [131807].
References 1. NASA JPL [131807] 2. Voyager project manager Suzanne Dodd [131807]

Software Taxonomy of Faults

Category Option Rationale
Recurring unknown (a) The software failure incident of the Voyager 1 spacecraft sending garbled telemetry data due to the attitude articulation and control system (AACS) sending data through a non-functional onboard computer has not been explicitly mentioned to have happened again within the same organization (NASA) or with its products and services [131807]. (b) The article does not provide information about a similar incident happening at other organizations or with their products and services [131807].
Phase (Design/Operation) design (a) The software failure incident in Article #131807 was related to the design phase. The glitch in the Voyager 1 spacecraft's data telemetry was traced back to the attitude articulation and control system (AACS) sending data through an onboard computer that had stopped working years ago, corrupting the information. This issue was identified as a result of the system design where the AACS was incorrectly sending data through the non-functional computer, leading to the glitch [131807]. (b) There is no specific information in Article #131807 indicating that the software failure incident was related to the operation phase.
Boundary (Internal/External) within_system (a) within_system: The software failure incident with the Voyager 1 spacecraft was due to a glitch originating from within the system itself. Specifically, the glitch was traced back to the attitude articulation and control system (AACS) sending telemetry data through an onboard computer that had stopped working years ago, causing corruption of the information [131807]. This indicates that the failure was internal to the spacecraft's systems.
Nature (Human/Non-human) non-human_actions (a) The software failure incident in the Voyager 1 spacecraft was due to non-human actions. The glitch was traced back to the attitude articulation and control system (AACS) sending telemetry data through an onboard computer that had stopped working years ago, leading to the corruption of information. This issue was not caused by human actions but rather by the system itself operating in an unexpected manner [131807].
Dimension (Hardware/Software) software (a) The software failure incident in the Voyager 1 spacecraft was not directly caused by hardware issues. The glitch was traced back to the attitude articulation and control system (AACS) sending telemetry data through an onboard computer that had stopped working years ago, corrupting the information. This indicates that the hardware itself was not the root cause of the failure, but rather the software configuration that led to data corruption [131807].
Objective (Malicious/Non-malicious) non-malicious (a) The software failure incident described in Article #131807 is non-malicious. The glitch in the Voyager 1 spacecraft's data telemetry was traced back to the attitude articulation and control system (AACS) sending data through an onboard computer that had stopped working years ago, causing corruption of information. The fix involved instructing the AACS to switch back to the correct computer for sending data. The article mentions that engineers are unsure of the root cause of the glitch but suspect that another computer sending a faulty command could be the reason [131807].
Intent (Poor/Accidental Decisions) unknown The software failure incident related to the Voyager 1 spacecraft's data glitch does not indicate any poor decisions or accidental decisions as contributing factors. The glitch was attributed to the AACS sending telemetry data through an onboard computer that had stopped working years ago, which corrupted the information. The fix involved instructing the AACS to switch back to the correct computer for sending data. The article does not mention any poor or accidental decisions leading to the software failure incident [131807].
Capability (Incompetence/Accidental) accidental (a) The software failure incident in Article #131807 does not seem to be related to development incompetence. The glitch in the Voyager 1 spacecraft's data telemetry was traced back to the attitude articulation and control system (AACS) sending data through an onboard computer that was known to have stopped working years ago. The fix involved instructing the AACS to switch back to the correct computer for sending data. The team at NASA JPL successfully diagnosed and resolved the issue, indicating a level of professional competence in addressing the problem [131807]. (b) The software failure incident in Article #131807 appears to be accidental in nature. The glitch in the Voyager 1 spacecraft's telemetry data transmission was caused by the AACS sending data through an onboard computer that had ceased functioning years ago. This accidental routing of data through the defunct computer corrupted the information being sent back to Earth. The team at NASA JPL identified the source of the glitch and implemented a solution to rectify the issue, indicating that the incident was not intentional but rather a result of an accidental configuration or error [131807].
Duration temporary The software failure incident related to the Voyager 1 spacecraft's data glitch was temporary. The glitch was traced back to the attitude articulation and control system (AACS) sending telemetry data through an onboard computer that had stopped working years ago, corrupting the information. The fix involved instructing the AACS to switch back to the correct computer for sending data. Engineers are still investigating the root cause of the glitch, suggesting that it was due to contributing factors introduced by certain circumstances but not all [131807].
Behaviour crash, other (a) crash: The software failure incident related to the Voyager 1 spacecraft involved a crash where the system lost its state and was not performing its intended functions. The glitch caused the spacecraft's attitude articulation and control system (AACS) to send back garbled telemetry data through an onboard computer that had stopped working years ago, corrupting the information [131807]. (b) omission: There is no specific mention of the software failure incident being related to omission in the provided article. (c) timing: The software failure incident did not involve timing issues where the system performed its intended functions too late or too early. (d) value: The software failure incident did not involve the system performing its intended functions incorrectly. (e) byzantine: The software failure incident did not involve the system behaving erroneously with inconsistent responses and interactions. (f) other: The software failure incident involved the system sending telemetry data through an onboard computer that had stopped working, leading to corrupted information. This behavior could be categorized as an "other" type of failure where the system behaved in an unexpected manner [131807].

IoT System Layer

Layer Option Rationale
Perception processing_unit, embedded_software (a) The software failure incident related to the Voyager 1 spacecraft was not directly related to a sensor error. The glitch was traced back to the attitude articulation and control system (AACS) sending garbled telemetry data through an onboard computer that had stopped working years ago, corrupting the information [131807]. (b) The failure was not due to an actuator error but rather to the AACS sending data through a non-functional onboard computer, leading to data corruption [131807]. (c) The software failure incident was related to a processing error. The AACS of Voyager 1 started sending telemetry data through a computer known to have stopped working years ago, causing corruption of the information [131807]. (d) The failure was not directly related to a network communication error but rather to the AACS sending data through an outdated onboard computer, resulting in data corruption [131807]. (e) The software failure incident was related to an embedded software error. The AACS of Voyager 1 was sending telemetry data through a computer that had stopped working years ago, leading to corruption of the information [131807].
Communication unknown The software failure incident related to the Voyager 1 spacecraft was not directly related to the communication layer of the cyber physical system that failed. The glitch was traced back to the attitude articulation and control system (AACS) sending telemetry data through an onboard computer that had stopped working years ago, corrupting the information. The fix involved instructing the AACS to switch back to the correct computer for sending data. The failure was more internal to the spacecraft's systems rather than being caused by issues at the communication layer [131807].
Application FALSE The software failure incident with the Voyager 1 spacecraft was not related to the application layer of the cyber physical system. The glitch was traced back to the attitude articulation and control system (AACS) sending telemetry data through an onboard computer that had stopped working years ago, corrupting the information. This issue was not caused by bugs, operating system errors, unhandled exceptions, or incorrect usage typically associated with failures at the application layer [131807].

Other Details

Category Option Rationale
Consequence unknown (a) death: People lost their lives due to the software failure (b) harm: People were physically harmed due to the software failure (c) basic: People's access to food or shelter was impacted because of the software failure (d) property: People's material goods, money, or data was impacted due to the software failure (e) delay: People had to postpone an activity due to the software failure (f) non-human: Non-human entities were impacted due to the software failure (g) no_consequence: There were no real observed consequences of the software failure (h) theoretical_consequence: There were potential consequences discussed of the software failure that did not occur (i) other: Was there consequence(s) of the software failure not described in the (a to h) options? What is the other consequence(s)? The software failure incident related to the Voyager 1 spacecraft did not result in any of the consequences mentioned in the options (a) to (i). The incident was related to a data glitch in the spacecraft's attitude articulation and control system (AACS), which was causing garbled telemetry data to be sent back to Earth. The issue was identified and resolved by instructing the AACS to switch back to the correct computer for sending data. The article does not mention any direct consequences such as harm, death, property loss, or delays caused by this software failure incident.
Domain knowledge (a) The failed system was intended to support the industry of knowledge, specifically space exploration. The software failure incident occurred on the Voyager 1 spacecraft, which is a 45-year-old explorer investigating the cosmos outside our solar system [Article 131807].

Sources

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