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"Anomaly" or anominal is the antonym (ie opposite) of "nominal". When things are going right, then everything is "nominal". An anomaly is where things aren't g
by rswail 8y ago
"Anomaly" or anominal is the antonym (ie opposite) of "nominal". When things are going right, then everything is "nominal".
An anomaly is where things aren't going according to their expected behavior. Anomalies can have differing levels of severity, depending on the impact of the anomaly on the mission plans.
You can have anomalies at any time, that's different to a "defect" or a "failure". Failure implies anomalies so severe that the mission can not complete.
So it's not a euphemism, it's a distinct term of the art in engineering of this sort.
- discreteevent 8y ago"it's a distinct term of the art in engineering of this sort" - I think the problem might be for people who don't work in that field, that the word anomaly in ordinary English means something that is slightly unusual. In other fields, including software, we would say that something failed even if it is only in initial development. If the term in common use for space craft is anomaly, then everyone in that field knows what it means so it is a good term because they are the only people that matter in dealing with it.