en_GB http://tobyinkster.co.uk/tag/mars/ http://tobyinkster.co.uk/blog/2007/04/19/mgs/ <p>Most programmers, especially those who work on server software, will have been in a situation when we&#8217;ve been reconfiguring, upgrading, modifying or otherwise replacing some piece of vital software on a physically remote server, and things haven&#8217;t gone quite as expected.</p> <p>Often, fixing it is a simple matter of logging into the server remotely (via, say, secure shell) and reversing the change. In some extreme cases, the problem is so severe though, that it can&#8217;t be fixed remotely&nbsp;&#8212; for example, you&#8217;ve managed to accidentally halt the machine, so you can&#8217;t log into it remotely and it needs a restart. In such a situation, you&#8217;ll need to physically go over to the server (or phone someone and have them do so) and fix the problem.</p> <p><span class="caps">NASA&#8217;</span>s Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) was launched in November 1996. Fast forward almost a decade and a couple of bugs in a firmware update end up swivelling the antena further than the antenna was built to go. This led to the craft reorienting itself and exposing one of its batteries&#8230;</p>