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The 1999 Mars Climate Orbiter disintegrated in the Martian atmosphere instead of settling into a safe orbit. What mistake caused this?
AIts fuel tank ruptured shortly after the launch
BIts onboard camera lost contact with mission control
CIts parachute deployed several minutes too early
DEnglish units were mixed with SI units in one calculation
Answer & Solution
Correct answer: D. English units were mixed with SI units in one calculation
1. One team's calculations used English units such as feet and pounds.
2. Those results were never converted into the SI units the rest of the mission used.
3. The mismatch sent the orbiter far closer to Mars than planned, and it broke apart in the atmosphere.
_Source: OpenStax Physics (CC BY 4.0), Ch 2 "Motion in One Dimension", section 2.1 Relative Motion, Distance, and Displacement_
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