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Mars Climate Orbiter

Occurred 26 years ago

Type

Orbiter

Launch

Dec. 11, 1998

Target

Mars

Status

Unsuccessful
Artist's concept of Mars Climate Orbiter
An artist's concept of Mars Climate Orbiter.
NASA/JPL-Caltech

About the Mission

Designed to study Mars from orbit and serve as a communications relay for the Mars Polar Lander and Deep Space probes, the Mars Climate Orbiter was unsuccessful due to a navigation error caused by a failure to translate English units to metric.

Ground software used English units, while onboard software worked in metric. The discrepancy caused errors in trajectory calculations which sent the spacecraft too close to Mars.

Last contact with the spacecraft was on Sept. 23, 1999, nine months after launch, and an investigation found that the spacecraft burned up in Mars' atmosphere.

Key Facts

LaunchDec. 11, 1998
Launch SiteCape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida
Launch VehicleDelta II
End of MissionSept. 23, 1999, lost on arrival

News and Features

All Mars News
Blog
2 Min Read

NASA’s ESCAPADE Spacecraft Return to Florida to Prepare for Launch

News Release
6 Min Read

NASA Says Mars Rover Discovered Potential Biosignature Last Year

4 Min Read

What Would It Take to Say We Found Life? We Asked a…

Article
2 Min Read

NASA to Share Details of New Perseverance Mars Rover Finding

News Release
3 Min Read

Impactor Debris Scattered Within Mars’ Mantle (Artist’s Concept)

Article
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