If something doesn't explode when the engineers at White Sands Missile Range conduct a test, usually that means the test failed. But when the millennium bomb failed to detonate during a test last week at the New Mexico base, engineers were very pleased.
On Thursday, the missile range ran its computers through a test of the year 2000 computer bug. As an F-4 jet flew through the skies above the base, computer engineers tested four radars, 11 optical instruments, one telemetry ground station and more than 100 networked computer systems. The engineers fooled the computers into thinking the date was changing from Dec. 31, 1999 to Jan. 1, 2000.
If the millennium bomb had gone off, the computers may have failed, the instruments may have returned false data, or worst of all, the plane could have lost control and fallen from the sky. That's why when nothing happened, the engineers were relieved.
"The screens didn't go blank, the computers didn't crash, and the jet didn't crash," said Mike Garcia, the computer engineer who oversaw the Y2K test. "We are helping to allay fears by making sure our systems work under all year 2000 conditions."
In addition to rolling their computers from 1999 into 2000, the White Sands engineers also tested leap year scenarios. They tested changing the date from Feb. 28, 2000 to Feb. 29, 2000, from Feb. 29, 2000 to March 1, 2000, from Dec. 30, 2000 to Dec. 31, 2000 and from Dec. 31, 2000 to Jan. 1, 2001. In all the cases, the computers appeared to work fine.
Garcia said the engineers must now review millions of bytes of engineering data and rolls of videotape to make sure minor glitches did not occur. But he said the test's success means the missile range is well on its way to defusing the millennium bomb.
"It has been a monumental effort," Garcia said. "We've spent nine months testing, patching, and certifying our systems, culminating in this broad range test."
The missile range has spent $1 million on year 2000 fixes. White Sands will soon begin integrated testing with other missile ranges to make sure the nationwide system of national defense facilities is free of Y2K bugs.
NEXT STORY: Merger creates federal consulting giant