#Mars climate orbiter mistake software#

After the disastrous and mysterious disappearance of the orbiter, a review board came together to investigate what could have gone wrong in the first place. In the case of NASA’s Mars Climate Orbiter, a localisation issue turned out to be a costly and devastating mistake.

#Mars climate orbiter mistake software#

They quickly realised it was gone for good.Īs we’ve seen previously on History’s Biggest Software Fails, a simple software glitch can make all the difference. However, on the 23rd of September 1999, as the satellite approached Mars, it suddenly disappeared. With high hopes the team watched as one of Earth’s greatest achievements approached the red planet after a year of travel. The 11th of December, 1998, scientists from NASA launched a 125 million dollar satellite to Mars that would be the first weather observer on a foreign planet.

In fact, some would argue that it’s a matter of global security. Therefore, it’s no surprise that the world’s governments invest heavily into space exploration in an attempt to better understand ourselves and how we fit into this unimaginably vast universe. Great fiction has arisen from the concept of space, where travelling to distant galaxies in search for life, survival or answers spurs explorers to places where no man has ever gone before. The foreign planets, millions of light years away, fill us with hope and simultaneously a visceral dread at the idea that we are probably not alone. It’s been the lifelong dream and even obsession of many great people to understand the mysteries of the universe.

It’s been the cause for human curiosity since the dawn of time as man has gazed into the night skies befuddled by a darkness speckled with bright shining lights. You want to become a partner? Get started hereĪccess your current tests or start a new one.

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