The unit confusion caused MCO to fly 170 kilometers closer to the Martian surface than planned, a trajectory that almost certainly tore the probe apart in the atmosphere. Due to complications arising from human error, the spacecraft. Esta misión fue anteriormente denominada Mars Surveyor 98 Orbiter. Mars Climate Orbiter went out of radio contact when the spacecraft passed behind Mars at 09:04:52 UTC, 49 seconds earlier than expected, and communication was never reestablished. La Mars Climate Orbiter (MCO) fue una sonda de la NASA lanzada desde Cabo Cañaveral el 11 de diciembre de 1998 por un cohete Delta II 7425 y llegó a Marte el 23 de septiembre de 1999, después de un viaje de 9 meses y medio. But other pieces of software used that data as if it were in metric units, Newtons. Mars Climate Orbiter began the planned orbital insertion maneuver on Septemat 09:00:46 UTC. The cause of the failure (and the excessive thruster maneuvers), investigators soon realized, was that thruster performance data were stored in English units, pounds. On 23 September 1999 mission control lost contact with MCO as it was inserting itself into orbit. During its journey to the Red Planet MCO unexpectedly had to apply thrusters frequently to prevent the probe from spinning out of control. The spacecraft was supposed to observe weather patterns, measure distributions of water and ozone, and track dust storms. Launched in December 1998, MCO was publicized as the first weather satellite for another planet. As we review the Mars Climate Orbiter this month, consider the progress we have made since this 1998 mission failure, but also look for parallel situations in the programs and projects you are working on today. An investigation soon revealed that the spacecraft had burned up in the Martian atmosphere because engineers had not converted English units to metric. When the Mars Climate Orbiter reached its destination, it entered the Martian atmosphere well-below its intended altitude and disappeared. On this day in 1999, NASA lost contact with its Mars Climate Orbiter (MCO).
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