Cosmic Computer Ram is a character from the game "Cosmic Computer."
Cosmic Computer Ram is a character from the game "Cosmic Computer."
Recently I learned that cosmic rays occasionally cause bit flips in RAM. During one shuttle mission 158 bits changed. Spacecraft are built to resist radiation and can restart after errors, having been checked in a radiation chamber. A Mario speed run missed a level because it was likely just one bit flip—possibly from a cosmic event—that pushed the player forward instead of a secret shortcut. A jet flying on auto-pilot changed direction due to a single bit error. Such occurrences are rare. A random blue screen can indeed be caused by cosmic radiation. What are your thoughts? Pausable?
It's completely feasible, though uncommon, and a factor servers consider when choosing ECC RAM.
There are people in space, the ground setup could be quite reliable, and there are numerous backup systems in place. Minor errors occur occasionally with standard RAM without significantly impacting performance. Did you hear about the MIM-104 Patriot missile system? It experienced a single missed shot during its initial test because of clock drift.