# Mars Climate Orbiter

> robotic space probe launched by NASA on December 11, 1998

**Wikidata**: [Q574464](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q574464)  
**Wikipedia**: [English](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Climate_Orbiter)  
**Source**: https://4ort.xyz/entity/mars-climate-orbiter

## Summary
The Mars Climate Orbiter was a robotic space probe launched by NASA on December 11, 1998. It was part of the Mars Surveyor '98 program and intended to study Martian weather and climate.

## Key Facts
- **Launch Date:** December 11, 1998
- **Operator:** National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)
- **Launch Vehicle:** Delta II
- **Launch Site:** Cape Canaveral Space Launch Complex 17
- **Mission Part Of:** Mars Surveyor '98
- **Class:** Space Probe, Robotic Spacecraft
- **Destruction Cause:** Uncontrolled reentry due to a data conversion error
- **Time of Orbit Decay/Atmospheric Entry:** September 23, 1999
- **Commons Category:** Mars Climate Orbiter

## FAQs
### Q: What was the primary purpose of the Mars Climate Orbiter?
A: The Mars Climate Orbiter was designed to study Martian weather and climate. It was part of the Mars Surveyor '98 program focused on understanding the planet's atmospheric conditions.

### Q: Why did the Mars Climate Orbiter mission fail?
A: The mission failed due to a catastrophic data conversion error. One system processed data using metric units (newtons) while another expected imperial units (pound-force), causing the spacecraft to enter the Martian atmosphere at the wrong altitude and burn up.

### Q: Where was the Mars Climate Orbiter built?
A: The Mars Climate Orbiter was manufactured by Lockheed Martin Space.

### Q: How did the Mars Climate Orbiter get to Mars?
A: It traveled to Mars aboard a Delta II rocket launched from Cape Canaveral Space Launch Complex 17 on December 11, 1998.

## Why It Matters
The Mars Climate Orbiter mission holds significant historical importance as a cautionary tale in space exploration. Its failure, directly caused by a metric conversion error, underscored the critical need for rigorous unit consistency in international spacecraft projects. This loss forced NASA and other space agencies to implement stricter engineering controls and verification protocols, fundamentally improving mission safety and reliability. The incident became a seminal case study in systems engineering and communication breakdowns, influencing subsequent Mars missions like the highly successful Mars Exploration Rovers and the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, ultimately contributing to greater mission success rates. Its legacy is a constant reminder that even small errors in complex systems can lead to catastrophic failure.

## Notable For
- Infamous for being destroyed by a metric system error (data conversion between imperial and metric units), leading to uncontrolled reentry and loss of the spacecraft.
- Part of the ill-fated Mars Surveyor '98 program, alongside the Mars Polar Lander.
- Its atmospheric entry occurred on September 23, 1999, just over nine months after launch.
- Identified by NASA as a critical example of the importance of systems engineering and communication in spaceflight operations.

## Body
### Mission Overview
The Mars Climate Orbiter was a robotic space probe launched by NASA on December 11, 1998. Its primary objective was to study the Martian weather, climate, and surface conditions. It was classified as both a space probe and a robotic spacecraft.

### Launch & Trajectory
The spacecraft was launched using a Delta II rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Launch Complex 17 at 18:45:51 UTC on December 11, 1998. It was part of the Mars Surveyor '98 program. The manufacturer was Lockheed Martin Space.

### Loss & Cause of Failure
The Mars Climate Orbiter met its demise on September 23, 1999, during its planned atmospheric entry into the Martian atmosphere. The cause of destruction was an uncontrolled reentry. This catastrophic failure resulted from a significant data conversion error. Ground control software transmitted thruster data in imperial units (pound-force), while the spacecraft's on-board system expected data in metric units (newtons). This discrepancy caused the spacecraft to pass too low into the Martian atmosphere, where it was destroyed by atmospheric friction and heating.

### Classification & Identifiers
- **Instance Of:** Space Probe, Robotic Spacecraft
- **COSPAR ID:** 1998-073A
- **NSSDCA ID:** 1998-073A
- **NAIF ID:** -127
- **Freebase ID:** /m/01tqgm
- **Kbpedia ID:** MarsClimateOrbiter
- **Gran Enciclopèdia Catalana ID:** mars-climate-orbiter (former scheme: 0253735)
- **SCN:** 25571
- **Aliases:** Mars Surveyor '98 Orbiter, マーズ・クライメット・オービタ, マーズ・クライミット・オービター, マーズ・クライメイト・オービタ, 火星氣候衛星, 火星氣候觀察號, 火星氣候軌道船, 화성 기후 탐사선, 마스 클라이밋 오비터
- **Image:** Available on Wikimedia Commons at [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Mars_Climate_Orbiter_2.jpg](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Mars_Climate_Orbiter_2.jpg)
- **Sitelink Count:** 37 (Wikipedia pages in various languages: ar, bg, ca, commons, cs, de, en, es, et, fa)
- **Described At URL:** [https://www.simscale.com/blog/nasa-mars-climate-orbiter-metric/](https://www.simscale.com/blog/nasa-mars-climate-orbiter-metric/) (with qualifier: "How NASA Lost Its Mars Climate Orbiter From a Metric Error")

## References

1. Jonathan's Space Report
2. Freebase Data Dumps. 2013
3. [When NASA Lost a Spacecraft Due to a Metric Math Mistake](https://www.simscale.com/blog/nasa-mars-climate-orbiter-metric/)
4. [Source](https://naif.jpl.nasa.gov/pub/naif/toolkit_docs/C/req/naif_ids.html)
5. KBpedia