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Why is this better than having hardware on earth?

• gojomo 5y ago
  Hardware on Earth can be compromised any time later - via coercion, inducements to collude, etc. The usual disadvantage of far-space probes – older tech that can't be upgraded – becomes an advantage in the trusted-validator role, as long as the initial prep/launch isn't corrupted. The window of potential compromises is shrunk.
  • stickfigure 5y ago
    Software in space gets upgraded; the base stations the satellites communicate with can be compromised; you have to trust that the builders didn't include any backdoors or unexpected behavior (deliberately or accidentally). Seems like this has all the same problems as the earth option, but is more expensive.
    • gojomo 5y ago
      It only gets upgraded if it was designed to be so upgraded, which adds cost/complexity. If you don't manage your backdoor before the probe leaves human hands, you can't add it later. And, other mechanisms (some described in sibling threads) can help drive the risk of a backdoor very low, & the liklihood of any compromise being widely revealed (if ever exploited) very high.