The result was that instead of being 226 km from the planet, the probe was only 57 km from the Martian surface.
#MARS CLIMATE ORBITER SOFTWARE#
More precisely, the first software passed an impulse expressed in pound * second while the second part expected it to be given in newton * second. These results were then sent to another part of the software developed by NASA that interpreted them as if they were expressed in International System Units. One part of the trajectory control software that had been developed by Lockheed Martin produced a numerical output in English units. The subsequent investigation clarified that the spacecraft was much closer to the planet than planned, so close as to be destroyed by friction with the Martian atmosphere. However, the radio contact was lost 49 seconds earlier than expected and was never restored. The probe had to pass behind the planet, meaning that a temporary loss of radio signal was expected. On 23 September 1999 the probe began its final maneuvers to enter Mars orbit. In particular, the Mars Climate Orbiter was designed to monitor the evolution of daily weather conditions, to study the distribution of water both on the ground, and in the atmosphere, and to measure the temperature of the atmosphere. Along with the Mars Polar Lander, the probe was part of a project to study Martian meteorology and climate.
The Mars Climate Orbiter was launched on 11 December 1998 from Cape Canaveral, Florida. This failure was caused by some imprudent choices in the way the mission was managed. The biggest problem was not the unit mismatch itself, but the failure to detect and correct this mistake. Subsequent investigations revealed that it would be too simplistic to attribute the failure of the mission only to this problem. In September 1999, the Mars Climate Orbiter probe crashed into Mars due to a mismatch between the measurement units used in different parts of the trajectory control software.
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