
Pillar X: Learn from Failures ◾ 497
Table 10.3 Case Study and Root Cause Analysis on the Crash of NASA’s Mass Climate Orbiter (MCO)
Crash of NASA’s MCO—A $125 Million Failure Reference
The failure On September 23, 1999, the MCO, with an estimated cost of $125
million, went off course by approximately 60 miles and crashed into
the atmosphere of the Red Planet and was lost in space. The
primary mission of the MCO was to monitor the Martian
atmosphere, surface, and polar caps for 1 Martian year, or 687 Earth
days
Source: Dan Sorid, September 30, 1999.
Human Error Doomed Mars Climate orbiter
(MCO). http://www.space.com/news/orbiter_
error_990930.html (accessed Nov ...