A Simple Software Error: 6 Bugs That Made History

Computer users are very common bug He/she has encountered the word at least once. The bugs we see in computer programs, various software and especially games are generally called minor software errors and can be eliminated with minor adjustments or updates. So, are these types of bugs only found in games and cause minor errors? The answer is no.

In this content, we will present you the stories that went down in internet history and had devastating effects. bug We compiled examples. In addition to the bug examples that can be called disastrous, the list also includes quite interesting and funny examples. If you wish, let's take a look at the examples of bugs that have made history without further ado.

6 examples of bugs that went down in world history:

• Ariane 5 rocket takes off
• Therac-25 emits an excessive dose of radiation
• $460 million lost in minutes
• Missile exploded at American base
• Mars Climate Orbiter accident
• The first bug in computer history

Ariane 5 rocket taking off:

NASA planned to launch on June 4, 1996. Ariane 5 While coding the spacecraft, he was unaware that he had made a mistake by copying the codes for the Ariane 4 rocket. That day, a countdown was made for the launch and the rocket's engines were ignited and takeoff began. The Ariane 5 rocket, which accelerated and continued on its way for 37 seconds, was heading in the wrong direction after that second. rotate 90 degrees started. This triggered the rocket's self-destruct mechanism and the spacecraft the world's most expensive fireworks was engraved in mind.

This accident cost NASA approximately $370 million. The cause of this accident, which was among the most expensive software errors in history, was a bug in the software. This bug caused it to try to fit a 64-bit variable, which can represent billions of potential values, into a 16-bit variable that can hold approximately 65 thousand values. This appears in the codes as the rockets accelerate. bug things got complicated and the rocket exploded.

Therac-25, which emits an excessive dose of radiation:

The machine, called Therac-25, was designed to be used in the treatment of cancer patients. Based on its predecessor, Therac-25 “improved” There was a therapy system and this system could emit two different types of radiation. The first is a low power beam of electrons (beta particles), the other is much stronger X-rays that emit electrons.

Therac-25 applied the treatment by colliding X-ray particles with a metal plate located between the electron gun and the patient. Another development is the use of electromechanical security locks in the Therac-20 as a security measure. with software security measures was to be changed. Unfortunately, this error, which was seen as a development, caused the error that was found in the Therac-20's codes but was not noticed to appear in Therac-25.

An error known as race condition caused the Therac-25 to operate in high power mode. What the operators did not know was that the device operated in this mode, so they could not remove the metal plate. they did not replace. Due to this bug, approximately 5 patients died due to heavy doses of radiation. lost his life reported. Other patients were treated for serious injuries.

$460 million lost in minutes:

A lot of thought needs to be put into the subject called software and even the slightest mistake We are faced with a case that shows that it could cost a company. Knight Capital Group decided to release a new software update on August 1, 2012. The company, which planned to automatically trade stocks with its software update, suddenly found itself in a situation it never expected. on the verge of bankruptcy found it.

At around 9 a.m., the New York Stock Exchange opened for trading and Knight Capital's first retail investor placed orders to buy or sell assets. After just 45 minutes, Knight Capital's servers processed 4 million transactions, giving the company losing 460 million dollars brought it to the brink of bankruptcy. Some stocks on the NYSE are up over 300%. This is because other companies' algorithms began to exploit Knight Capital's mistake.

Missile exploded at American base:

During the Gulf War, which took place in February 1991, there was an explosion at the United States base in Zahran, Saudi Arabia. A short-range ballistic missile called Al Hussein Scud managed to hit its target and exploded at the American base. The cause of the explosion was the anti-ballistic missile system on the base. it wasn't working right.

As a result of the interrogations and research, the cause of the explosion was a result of the anti-ballistic missile system on the base. software error It turned out that it was due to failure to fire. The MIM-104 Patriot, which was supposed to destroy medium-range airborne missiles, had been operating for more than 100 hours, and with each hour that passed, the internal clock few milliseconds was going forward.

0.33 seconds is incredibly small for a human, for a system built to track the Al Hussein missile. incredibly big It was a mistake. MIM-104 Patriot managed to detect an object in the air, but due to a bug, it did not detect the object. couldn't follow and he couldn't understand that it was a missile. 28 soldiers on the base lost their lives due to the unblockable missile.

Mars Climate Orbiter accident:

The purpose of the Mars Climate Orbiter spacecraft, launched in 1998, was to control the climate on Mars and transmit it to the world, but unfortunately there was a problem in its codes. bug Because of this, he never completed this task. Mars Climate Orbiter, which continues its way in space for several months redirect error was destroyed because of it.

The teams controlling the spacecraft on Earth were using imperial unit parameters. The spacecraft's software made calculations according to the metric system. Because of this incorrect coding, the Mars Climate Orbiter deviated from its intended route and crashed. As a result, the vehicle experienced too much friction in the Martian atmosphere and was destroyed.

The first bug in computer history

Do you know where the word bug, which we use for computer errors, comes from? The first computer bug in history. a real insect It emerged by entering a computer. This incident, which took place on September 9, 1947, went down in history when the person who discovered the bug wrote in his report book that a bug was found in the computer system for the first time. A moth got into the Harvard Mark II computer belonging to the US Navy. had broken its function.

The word bug was not used for the first time at that time, but the people who found the bug in the Harvard Mark II recorded this word in reports, causing us to use the word bug more today in computer and software errors. This incident became a bit of a laughing stock, but as time went by, the word bug became more common with the emergence of computer and software errors. Therefore, the insect you see in the photo is not the same as the one we encounter today. mother of all bugs we can say.

6 things that went down in internet history bug We have come to the end of our content where we compiled the sample. If you wish What does bug mean? When did it first appear? You can access our content where we answer your questions by clicking here. If you have encountered examples of such bugs before, you can share them with us in the comments. There will be more content like this to come. Stay tuned so you don't miss it.