Lab Notes 002: Building Resilience Into v0.1

On July 23, 2012, Earth narrowly escaped a solar superstorm—a “near miss” in which powerful coronal mass ejections nearly pushed the magnetopause inside geostationary orbit. The incident revealed how thin the line can be between safety and vulnerability for Earth-based and orbital technologies. While such extreme collapses are rare, the lesson is clear: sudden disruptions are possible. For Project E.L.A. v0.1, however, it is the far more common risks—data corruption, hardware failure, fire, or theft—that are most likely to disrupt progress. Building resilience against those everyday dangers is our first priority. Below is our resilience framework, with focus on vulnerabilities, indicators of failure, and mitigation strategies.

1. Environmental Factors

• Risks: Water intrusion (sprinklers, spills), fire suppression, solar events (CME/EMP), theft.

• Indicators: Visible leaks, power surges, unexplained system crashes, unusual date/time resets (possible EMP).

• Mitigations:

  
  

  • Keep sensitive electronics elevated and optionally covered when unattended.

  • Use surge protectors and line conditioners to filter spikes.

  • Store SSD backups in a Faraday bag or metal container.

  • Regular off-site/cloud data syncs.

For additional information on the Earth's magnetosphere and efforts to observe and predict space weather and Earth's protection, check out the following linked sites.

Screenshot of NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center linked website.

https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/products/goes-magnetometer

Screenshot of DTU Space linked website.

https://www.space.dtu.dk/english/research-divisions/geomagnetism-and-geospace/research-areas/space-weather-and-space-safety

2. Data Security & Permanence

• Risks: Drive corruption, accidental wipes, malicious code, theft of drives.

• Indicators: Corrupted boot sequences, missing partitions, unexplained file alterations.

• Mitigations:

  
  

  • Maintain cloned SSD backups.

  • Regular checksums for integrity verification.

  • Strong encryption for stored data.

  • Firewalls and regular firmware/software updates to close vulnerabilities.

  
  

3. Cooling & Thermal Stability

• Risks: Fan failure, blocked vents, overheating of the NX or servo drivers.

• Indicators: Louder/different fan sound, rising temperature alerts from BIOS/firmware, CPU/GPU throttling.

• Mitigations:

  
  

  • External thermal monitoring sensors.

  • Replaceable fan modules with spares on hand.

  • Automatic system throttling/shutdown as safeguard.

  
  

4. Network Stability

• Risks: Connection loss, latency spikes, malicious injection during downtime.

• Indicators: Frequent disconnects, packet loss, or dropped sessions.

• Mitigations:

  
  

  • Redundant Wi-Fi/ethernet paths where possible.

  • Local fallback mode for essential E.L.A. functions.

  • VPN for encrypted comms.

  
  

5. Critical Parts & Downtime

• Risks: Servo burnouts, PSU failure, controller card failure.

• Indicators: Servo jitter, undervoltage warnings, sudden cutoffs.

• Mitigations:

  
  

  • Keep spares of key components (servos, PSU, fan).

  • Test replacement procedure ahead of time.

  • Document wiring/cabling clearly for quick swap.

  
  

6. Vibration & Mechanical Stress

• Risks: Loose fasteners, resonance with servos, damage to boards or mounts.

• Indicators: Audible rattling, visual oscillation, shifting calibration.

• Mitigations:

  
  

  • Use threadlocker on bolts.

  • Sorbothane or silicone washers at mount points.

  • Regular torque checks.

  
  

7. Continuity During Upgrades

• Risks: Data loss or corruption during SSD swap, firmware mismatch.

• Indicators: Failure to boot after upgrade, error logs.

• Mitigations:

  
  

  • Validate backup before upgrade.

  • Test new configs on secondary media before migrating.

  • Rollback plan documented.

  
  

8. Software & Firmware Updates

• Risks: Bricking during updates, regressions in driver support, security holes if delayed.

• Indicators: Post-update instability, deprecated package warnings.

• Mitigations:

  
  

  • Staged updates (non-critical system first).

  • Maintain previous version images for rollback.

  • Subscribe to vendor advisories.

Conclusion

Resilience is not about eliminating risk—it’s about accepting that failures will occur and preparing to absorb them without losing continuity or confidence. From redundant data storage to fuses, surge protection, and thoughtful cooling, each safeguard we add is both technical and symbolic: a promise that Project E.L.A. can withstand the turbulence of real-world conditions. With careful design, planning, and iteration, peace of mind comes not from hoping nothing will go wrong, but from knowing we are ready when it does.

References

Baker, D. N., Li, X., Pulkkinen, A., Ngwira, C. M., Mays, M. L., Galvin, A. B., & Simunac,

K. D. (2013). A major solar eruptive event in July 2012: Defining extreme space weather scenarios. Space Weather, 11(10), 585–591. https://doi.org/10.1002/swe.20097

FEMA (2018). Critical Infrastructure Resilience: Final Report and Recommendations.

National Research Council. (2012). Severe Space Weather Events—Understanding

Societal and Economic Impacts. Washington, DC: National Academies Press.

NVIDIA Developer Docs: Jetson Orin NX System Monitoring and Thermal Management.