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Spacecraft Crashes Into Satellite

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the coming-or-going dept.

Juha-Matti Laurio writes "A robotic NASA spacecraft designed to rendezvous with an orbiting satellite instead crashed into its target. Unbeknownst to engineers at the time, DART's main sensor mistakenly believed it was flying away from the satellite when it was actually moving 5 feet per second toward it, investigators found."

3 of 343 comments (clear)

  1. damn! by esmrg · · Score: 0, Redundant

    forgot to carry that negative sign again

  2. Metric negative vs English negative... by NotQuiteReal · · Score: 1, Redundant
    Because we all know those negative signs are ambiguous, depending on the system used.

    Metric: Negatory - do not advance.

    English: No don't stop. [oooooh]

    --
    This issue is a bit more complicated than you think.
  3. Competition will Revive NASA by reporter · · Score: 0, Redundant
    Up until about 1981, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) did amazing things: e.g., sending Americans to the moon and sending a probe to Mars. The competition between the Russian space agency and NASA really spurred the latter agency to new heights of excellence. From about 1981, the Soviet Union was economically crumbing and faded as a competitor.

    Nowadays, the main problem with the NASA is that it has lacked serious competiton for the last 25 years. Just like General Motors (GM) and Ford, NASA lost its focus on quality due to the lack of competition.

    The tide may be turning. NASA now faces renewed competition from Russia (which is flush with cash from sales of oil and natural gas) and Japan. Just as Honda drove both GM and Ford to improve their products, the Russian space agency and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) will drive NASA to significantly improve its services and products.

    After decades of a confused space agenda, the Tokyo combined its 3 independent space agencies into the new JAXA. JAXA's only mission is space supremacy.

    Look at the artist's rendition of a future moon base manned by Japanese astronauts.