Mastering Spacecraft Attitude Control

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Which mission did NASA lose due to a math boo-boo?

Jupiter Space Probe mission

Saturn Space Telescope mission

Mars Rover mission

Mars Climate Orbiter mission (correct)

What was the cost of the mission that NASA lost?

$100 million

$200 million

$500 million

$327 million (correct)

Which year did the Mars Climate Orbiter launch?

2000

1996

1999

1998 (correct)

What was the weight of the Mars Climate Orbiter?

638 kilograms (B) Signup and view all the answers

How many course corrections were performed during the mission?

4 (A) Signup and view all the answers

What is solar pressure?

The momentum of the massless photons exerting pressure on a spacecraft (A) Signup and view all the answers

According to the text, what caused the Mars Climate Orbiter mission to fail?

Software misinterpretation of thruster firing data (C) Signup and view all the answers

What unit of measurement was mistakenly used by the software?

Pound-seconds of force (A) Signup and view all the answers

What was the calculated altitude at which the spacecraft was supposed to encounter Mars?

226 kilometers (B) Signup and view all the answers

Which unit of measurement was incorrectly used by the spacecraft in its reports to the ground station?

Pound seconds (A) Signup and view all the answers

What was the factor by which the reported results of the spacecraft's desaturation maneuvers were off?

4.45 times (C) Signup and view all the answers

Why was the trajectory calculated by the guidance team incorrect?

The units used in the calculations were incorrect (C) Signup and view all the answers

What could have prevented the error in the spacecraft's trajectory calculations?

Using the correct units in the calculations (C) Signup and view all the answers

During a desaturation maneuver or correction burn, NASA records the exact impulse and time every thruster fired. What is the purpose of this?

To calculate the spacecraft's trajectory changes (D) Signup and view all the answers

How does Mission Control track the spacecraft's trajectory in deep space?

By Doppler shift (D) Signup and view all the answers

What is the purpose of the Hohmann transfer burn?

To send the spacecraft on its way to Mars (B) Signup and view all the answers

Why did the navigation team notice a discrepancy in the observed trajectory after the Mars Orbital Insertion burn?

The spacecraft's altitude was measured in the wrong unit (B) Signup and view all the answers

What altitude did the spacecraft encounter Mars at?

The spacecraft encountered Mars at 57 kilometers in altitude instead of the calculated 226 kilometers. Signup and view all the answers

What lesson can be learned from the Mars Climate Orbiter mishap?

The mishap serves as a humbling reminder that even brilliant minds can make errors and overlook trivial problems. Signup and view all the answers