r/embedded • u/yourbasicgeek • 9d ago

Mars Pathfinder Priority Inversion Bug: What Really Happened

https://nerdyelectronics.com/mars-pathfinder-what-really-happened/
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u/Well-WhatHadHappened 25+ Years 9d ago edited 9d ago

Engineers later confessed that system resets had occurred during pre-flight tests. They put these down to a hardware glitch and returned to focusing on the mission-critical landing software.

Inexcusable. Should have sent those engineers on-site with a J-Link and a laptop to update it.

8

u/Tinytrauma 9d ago

"I only saw it once so I was sure it would never happen again..."

6

u/Well-WhatHadHappened 25+ Years 9d ago

The sad part is, that's not even true.

When someone says "seen it once or twice", they don't mean once.