Software Update Destroys $286M Japanese Satellite
Question for someone who knows more about satellites than me:<p>&gt; In satellites, the STT typically gets a good fix and sends the data to the IRU. The IRU uses the data to set its current reading and to measure how far it drifted since the last update. After calculating the drift it uses drift adjustments to compensate for the future drift. Clearly if the compensation calculation is wrong the future readings are going to be wrong. This appears to have played a role since the ACS attempted to correct a rotation that didn’t exist. The erroneous configuration information led the ACS to aggravate, not correct, the rotation.<p>Does this mean that error will compound if <i>either</i> the attitude <i>or</i> compensation are calculated or performed incorrectly? If so, is there a way to reduce that compounding, perhaps by making them more independent systems? Or am I reading too much into a summary? (And, you know, space is hard.)