What was the reason why it wasn't able to do its mission?
2007-07-16 02:59:13 · 2 answers · asked by always_blue 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
The landing legs had a switch to tell the lander when it was on the ground, so it could kill the engines. When they lowered the legs, at 800 feet high the switch jittered and sent a false "on the ground" signal to the computer, and it shut off the engines too soon.
2007-07-16 05:23:26 · answer #1 · answered by Nomadd 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The Mars Polar Lander crashed on Mars. They don't really know for sure, but they suspect it entered the atmosphere of Mars OK but the computer shut off the engines too early, before it reached the ground, and it fell the rest of the way and was destroyed.
In a related incident at the same time, the Mars Climate Orbiter failed to enter Mars orbit and instead entered the Martian atmosphere and burned up due to a navigational error.
2007-07-16 03:07:45 · answer #2 · answered by campbelp2002 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋