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Hi All,
Thought a few computer disasters involving the space program, there have been many, might be of interest.
The 1998 Mars Surveyor program consisted of two spacecraft launched separately, Mars Climate Orbiter and Mars Polar Lander, Mars Climate orbiter was the first to be launched.
When Mars Climate Orbiter arrived at Mars, due to a programing error, whereby the programing that was done in imperial was interpreted in metric, disastrous consequences ensued. This resulted in a much more direct approach for orbital insertion with the space craft going into orbit at an altitude of only 57 km instead of the planned 150 km. The insertion velocity at such a low altitude would have torn the spacecraft apart.
Due to this unforeseen problem with Mars Climate Orbiter, Mars Polar Lander was reprogrammed enroute. All contact was lost with Mars Polar Lander during its decent through the Martian atmosphere. The following inquiry concluded that a spurious signal generated when the Lander legs were deployed (Mars Polar Lander was designed for a soft landing) was interpreted by the onboard computers as the spacecraft having actually landed. The computers then shut off the descent engines and the spacecraft free fell the final several km's to the surface.
Regards
Trevor
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