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Very interesting! Is this kind of command capability (e.g. ability to modify memory contents) something that is usually only available on "non-critical" subsystems, or would you generally expect to also find it on critical components, like the communication or navigation modules?

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The ability to modify memory contents is pretty much universal; you can modify things like eeprom contents, the RAM, hard drive, etc. There is no differentiation between critical and non-critical; it's all just fairly critical.

Ground won't send telecommands to a spacecraft to modify a piece of memory without knowing exactly what they're doing first.

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