Science and Space

space and astronomy articles.

Back to front switches blamed for Genesis crash

The most likely reason for thr failure of Genesis space probe is the switches designed to trigger its parachute were installed backwards. The switches on Genesis were meant to sense the braking caused by the probe’s high-speed entry into the atmosphere, and then initiate the deployment of the craft’s parachutes.

Lockheed Martin Astronautics is responsible for that fatal mistake. The aeronautics company declined to comment but said it was cooperating with Nasa.

Five years ago Nasa lost two of its missions to Mars thanks to seemingly trivial errors by the company.

posted by: kyawoo at 21:26 | link | comments |
unmanned missions

Comments: