Mariner 1
Mariner 1 was a NASA spacecraft. It was the first spacecraft in the Mariner program. Mariner 1 was planned to do a Venus fly-by. However, it was destroyed by the Range Safety Officer 293 seconds after launch. It was destroyed because the rocket moved off course and was a safety risk. Mariner 1 was followed by Mariner 2.
 Launch of Mariner 1 | |
| Mission type | Venus flyby |
|---|---|
| Operator | NASA / JPL |
| Mission duration | 4 minutes, 53 seconds Failed to orbit |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Spacecraft type | Mariner based on Ranger Block I |
| Manufacturer | Jet Propulsion Laboratory |
| Launch mass | 202.8 kilograms (447 lb) |
| Power | 220 watts (at Venus encounter) |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | July 22, 1962, 09:21:23 UTC |
| Rocket | Atlas LV-3 Agena-B |
| Launch site | Cape Canaveral LC-12 |
Why it was destroyed
The Atlas-Agena rocket was controlled by a hand-written formula:
Which means "the nth smoothed value of the time derivative of a radius R". However, for this mission, an overline (‾) was missing in the formula, which looks something like this:
Because the smoothing function was missing, the rocket became sensitive at minor changes. Then, the rocket became out of control and destroyed by the Range Safety Officer.[1][2][3] Few years later, Arthur C. Clarke wrote that Mariner 1 was "wrecked by the most expensive hyphen in history".[4]
References
- Neumann, Peter (May 27, 1989). "Mariner I – no holds BARred". Risks Digest. 8 (75). Retrieved October 21, 2014.
- Ceruzzi, Paul E. Ceruzzi (1989). Beyond the Limits: Flight Enters the Computer Age. ISBN 978-0262530828.
- "Planetary Probe History". Space FAQ. August 2013. Retrieved September 9, 2016 – via FAQs.org.
- 'Clarke, Arthur C. (1968). The Promise of Space. p. 225.
Other websites
- "Mariner 1". NASA. Retrieved 2011-08-22.
- "Mariner 1". NASA. Archived from the original on 2014-12-05. Retrieved 2011-08-23.
- "Mariner 1-2". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Retrieved 2011-08-22.
- "Venus Shot Fails as Rocket Strays". The New York Times. 23 July 1962. Retrieved 2011-08-22.
- "Mariner 1". Universe Today. Retrieved 2011-08-22.
- "Mariners 1 & 2". ThinkQuest. Archived from the original on 2013-08-03. Retrieved 2011-08-22.
- Neumann, Peter G. (30 May 1989). "Mariner I -- no holds BARred". The Risks Digest, Volume 8 Issue 75. 8 (75). The Risks Digest. Retrieved 2011-08-23.