The Third World War is imminent
In 1980, the North American Aerospace Defense Command reported that the United States was under missile attack. It was later confirmed that this was a circuit fault in the feedback system, but the feedback system software did not consider the false alarm caused by the fault.
In 1983, a Soviet satellite reported a U.S. missile intrusion, but the officer in charge’s intuition told him that it was a false alarm. It later turned out to be a false alarm.
Thankfully these false alarms did not activate the "nuclear button". In the above two cases, if the other side really launches a counterattack, a full-scale nuclear war will break out, with disastrous consequences.
Figure 1: Game simulation diagram
The ozone layer hole that "slip through the net"
The ozone layer hole above Antarctica has always existed but has not been discovered for a long time. Why is this?
In 1978, NASA launched an ozone layer mapping project. When designed, the data analysis software used for the program ignored data that differed significantly from predicted values. It was not until 1985 that the ozone layer hole above Antarctica was discovered, but it was not discovered by NASA (it was discovered by British scientists first). The error was not discovered until NASA re-examined their data. After correcting the error, NASA confirmed that there is indeed a large hole in the Antarctic ozone layer.
Figure 2: "CT photo" of the ozone layer on July 19, 2010
Deadly radiation therapy
1985 to 1987, Therac-25 radiation therapy equipment Involved in many medical accidents caused by seriously excessive radiation doses, the culprit was a bug in the power software of medical equipment. According to statistics, a large number of patients received up to 100 times the scheduled dose (treatment), and at least three of them died directly from excessive radiation dose.
Another accident involving excessive radiation dose occurred in Panama City (the capital of Panama) in 2000. The treatment planning software imported from the American company Multidata has an incorrect preset value (for radiation dose). Some patients received excessive doses of treatment, and at least five people died. In the following years, 21 more people died, but it is difficult to determine how many of these 21 died from their own cancer or from adverse consequences caused by excessive doses of radiation therapy.
The Ariane 5 rocket’s maiden show
On June 4, 1996, the Ariane 5 launch vehicle made its maiden flight. Four solar wind observation satellites were delivered to the predetermined orbit, but a software problem caused the rocket to deflect 39 seconds after launch, thus activating the rocket's self-destruction device. The Ariane 5 rocket and other satellites were instantly destroyed. (See Figure 3)
The cause of the accident was later identified: code reuse. The launch system code of the A-5 type directly reuses the corresponding code of the A-4 type, and the flight conditions of the A-4 type are completely different from those of the A-5 type. The accident cost US$370 million.
Figure 3: The moment the Ariane 5 rocket explodes
Flight accident
In 1994, a Jinook helicopter crashed in Scotland , all 29 passengers died. However, initially the blame was directed at the pilot, but later evidence emerged that a system error in the helicopter was to blame.
Another flight accident caused by software occurred in 1993. A Swedish JAS 39 Gripen fighter jet crashed due to a bug in its flight control software.
Disappeared in Space
When building its Mars Climate Orbiter, a NASA engineering team used imperial units instead of the intended metric units. This will cause the probe's thrusters to fail to function properly. It was because of this bug that the probe plummeted 130 feet above the surface of Mars in 1999. The cost of this project is US$327 million, which does not include lost time (it took nearly a year from launch to arrival of the probe.)
Figure 5: Mars Climate Orbiter
Explosions seen in space
It is rumored that during the Cold War, the CIA successfully "exported" a control software with design flaws to the former Soviet Union, which was used to control natural gas pipelines. (The KGB stole the software from a Canadian company.) That implanted bug ultimately triggered the 1982 Siberian gas pipeline explosion.
Reed, a former CIA official, recalled: "The result of that explosion was very astonishing. It was one of the most spectacular explosions besides nuclear explosions. The raging fire even shot up from space. It can be seen in the Internet and has been captured by satellites.”
Although this example is intentional, it is enough to prove the fatal consequences that software flaws can cause.
Test carefully: not only can you save money, but also save people
Although 10 examples are mentioned in this article, this is just the tip of the iceberg. There are countless problems caused by software defects around the world every year.
Software defects are extremely expensive. A 2002 study by the National Institute of Standards and Technology showed that software defects cost the United States as much as $59.5 billion annually. Think about how big that amount would be globally. That study also confirmed that more than a third of the losses—a whopping $22.2 billion—could have been avoided with a little testing.
Postscript
Some bugs may only cause minor problems, but flight control system software, medical equipment software, and other software related to human life should never cause program problems. , and bring unwarranted disasters to people's lives and property.