[CTRL] NASA: Human error caused loss of Mars orbiter & NASA set to release report on loss of Mars orbiter

[Shane A. Saylor, Eccentric Bard]

 -Caveat Lector-

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Failure to convert English measures to metric values
caused the loss of the Mars Climate Orbiter, a spacecraft that smashed into
the planet instead of reaching a safe orbit, a NASA investigation concluded
Wednesday.

The Mars Climate Orbiter, a key craft in the space agency's exploration of
the red planet, vanished after a rocket firing September 23 that was
supposed to put the spacecraft on orbit around Mars.

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Destination Mars


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Manipulate the Mars Global Surveyor


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CNN's Miles O'Brien explains the last minute changes being made as the Mars
Polar Lander mission draws near.
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An investigation board concluded that NASA engineers failed to convert
English measures of rocket thrusts to newton, a metric system measuring
rocket force. One English pound of force equals 4.45 newtons. A small
difference between the two values caused the spacecraft to approach Mars at
too low an altitude and the craft is thought to have smashed into the
planet's atmosphere and was destroyed.

The spacecraft was to be a key part of the exploration of the planet. From
its station about the red planet, the Mars Climate Orbiter was to relay
signals from the Mars Polar Lander, which is scheduled to touch down on Mars
next month.

"The root cause of the loss of the spacecraft was a failed translation of
English units into metric units and a segment of ground-based,
navigation-related mission software," said Arthus Stephenson, chairman of
the investigation board.


Artist's conception of the Polar Lander on Mars

Stephenson said the board also found other facts that allowed the error to
occur and to continue throughout a series of midcourse rocket firings.

The board found that the error went undetected in ground-based computers.
Also, the mission navigation's team had an imperfect understanding of how
the craft was pointed in space. Additionally, the mission navigation team,
the report said, was overworked and not closely supervised by independent
experts.

The Mars Climate Orbiter was launched December 11, 1998, and began its long
journey toward the red planet. Along the way, engineers on the ground sent
instructions to the craft to fire rockets to correct its path toward Mars.
It was in these rocket firings that the error occurred.

On September 23 a final rocket firing was to put the craft into orbit, but
the signals disappeared, leading engineers to believe that it traveled too
close to Mars and was captured by the red planet's atmosphere.

An investigation launched immediately quickly discovered that the
mathematical conversion of English pounds to metric newtons had not been
done.

Report Summary:
>From the Mars Climate Orbiter Investigation Panel report
Root cause: Failure to use metric units in the coding of a ground software
file, "Small Forces," used in trajectory models




Contributing causes:

Undetected mismodeling of spacecraft velocity changes
Navigation Team unfamiliar with spacecraft
Trajectory correction maneuver number 5 not performed
System engineering process did not adequately address transition from
development to operations
Inadequate communications between project elements
Inadequate operations Navigation Team staffing
Inadequate training
Verification and validation process did not adequately address ground
software
 Recommendations:
Verify the consistent use of units throughout the MPL spacecraft design and
operations
Conduct software audit for specification compliance on all data transferred
between JPL and Lockheed Martin Astronautics
Verify Small Forces models used for MPL
Compare prime MPL navigation projections with projections by alternate
navigation methods
Train Navigation Team in spacecraft design and operations Prepare for
possibility of executing trajectory correction
maneuver number 5
Establish MPL systems organization to concentrate on trajectory
correction maneuver number 5 and entry, descent and landing
operations
Take steps to improve communications



(CNN) -- Six weeks after controllers lost the Mars Climate Orbiter, NASA is
poised this afternoon to release a scathing report of what went wrong and
what needs to be done to ensure the Orbiter's sister ship -- the Mars Polar
Lander -- makes it safely to the surface of the red planet.

Months before the Climate Orbiter reached Mars, controllers at NASA's Jet
Propulsion Laboratory saw signs of trouble but failed to understand the
implications until it was too late.

"When the earlier trajectory work was being done it was noticed that the
predictions   were not as exquisitely accurate as they normally are," said
mission controller Ben Clark of Lockheed Martin Aeronautics.

Such computer predictions are crucial because Earth-bound antennas offer
controllers a one-dimensional and thus incomplete picture of where to find a
spacecraft. But the discrepancies were so slight, the team simply discounted
the predictions.

The Mars Climate Orbiter was equipped with one large solar array on one
side, which was bombarded with millions of tiny solar particles as the
spacecraft traveled to Mars. This solar "wind" tended to roll the spacecraft
over.

A flywheel on board spun in the opposite direction to correct for the wind.
Each day when it reset by spinning back the other way, tiny thrusters fired
to counteract those forces.


Artist's conception of the Polar Lander on Mars

Over a nine-month period, these small thruster activities gave the
spacecraft more of a push off-course than controllers were able to track
with their available data, said Richard Zurek, a project scientist for the
mission.

The prime contractor for the mission, Lockheed Martin, measured the thruster
firings in pounds even though NASA had requested metric measurements. That
sent the Climate Orbiter in too low, where the $125-million spacecraft
burned up or broke apart in Mars' atmosphere.

That incident has prompted some 11th hour considerations about how to safely
fly the Polar Lander, which is scheduled to reach the martian surface on
December 3.

"Everybody really wants to make sure that all the issues have been looked
at," says Karen McBride, a member of the UCLA Mars Polar Lander science
team.

Sources told CNN the NASA investigation board has made at least 10
recommendations to the Polar Lander team, prompting numerous last-minute
changes and adding tension as the critical moments of the next Mars mission
draw near.

The Polar Lander blasted off on January 3 from Cape Canaveral, Florida, and
is scheduled to land December 3 on Mars' southern polar region.

The spacecraft is designed to use a robotic arm to dig for water ice in the
martian soil and conduct other science experiments.

Samhain( All Hallows Eve ): The only time of year we can truly be
rselves.   -- Shane A. Saylor, Eccentric Bard

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