Ariane mishap... $600k lost because the programmer tried to put a 64 bit number into a 16 bit space. The ship had a sub routine that allowed it to self destruct incase of an error, so when the 64 bit number went into the 16 bit space there was an error and the speed of the shuttle went -ve indicating it was heading for earth. It self destructed even though it was going the right way. So it took all of 40 seconds to lose $600k.

 

Ariane?

 

Space Shuttle that crashed in 1996.

 

Shuttle? I thought previous to the Discovery that the only Shuttle to crash was the Challenger?

 

Edit it was a rocket.

 

Touche.

 

A little background info.

Ariane is a French aerospace firm, partly owned by the French Government, that makes the majority of the SRF rockets used to launch satellites; INTELSAT, IMMARSAT, GPS, XM / SIRIUS, Direct TV... all of these systems have had hardware put in orbit riding an Ariane rocket.

Still, it sure was an expensive fcuk-up. :rick:


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Remember the Mars lander....? :chuckles:
What? You said feet right, not meters?


:huh: Uh OH.