The Mars Climate Orbiter was built in 1998 by NASA and Lockheed in partnership. Lockheed used Imperial units in their software, while NASA used the metric system like normal sane people everywhere else. Nobody noticed this discrepancy. Well, they definitely noticed when the $50 million probe didn't enter into a stable orbit like it was supposed to, and instead crashed spectacularly into the surface of Mars.

Useless Facts, Badly Drawn #48: The Mars Climate Orbiter.
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#fail #nasa #marsclimateorbiter #spaceprobe #space #oopsie #badmath #imperialvsmetric #metricsystem #fail #bruh #strangebuttrue #comic #webcomic #uselessfacts #uselessfactsbadlydrawn

A breathtaking view from the Mars Climate Orbiter's perspective during its launch on December 11th. Solid rocket boosters detach as the Earth's curvature and cloud cover become visible. The spacecraft embarked on a 9.5-month journey to Mars to study its atmosphere and serve as a communication relay.

Astronomy Picture from 24/12/1998

Mars Climate Orbiter Launches

Source: https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap981224.html


#MarsClimateOrbiter #SpaceLaunch #DeltaIIRocket #MarsMission #RocketLaunch #SpaceExploration #PlanetaryScience #Aerobraking #CapeCanaveral #NASA #SpaceHistory #MissionToMars

In 1999, NASA's Mars Climate Orbiter crashed due to a navigation error caused by a mix-up between the spacecraft's navigation software using metric units (newton-seconds) for measuring thrust, while ground-based software provided data in imperial units (pound-seconds). #science #sciencefacts #nasa #jpl #marsclimateorbiter #metricunits #imperialunits #measurement

In 1999, NASA's Mars Climate Orbiter crashed due to a navigation error caused by a mix-up between the spacecraft's navigation software using metric units, while ground-based software provided data in imperial units.

#science #sciencefacts #nasa #jpl #marsclimateorbiter #metricunits #imperialunits