NASA's Mars Climate Orbiter was lost because engineering teams used different measuring units

the verdict

SUPPORTED

the evidence backs this

Recorded sources

3 sources for · 0 against

Counts group repeated records of the same source within each side. They do not measure evidence strength or source independence.

NASA's Mars Climate Orbiter was destroyed because Lockheed Martin used English units (pounds) while the navigation team expected metric units (newtons), resulting in fatal trajectory errors.

How claims like this are judged

Judged against reference works: claims of this kind are settled by the historical reference record, not journal abstracts.

Evidence for · 3

Wikipedia: Mars Climate Orbiter

Recorded source metadata

Wikipedia: Mars Climate Orbiter. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Climate_Orbiter

Reference article covering this claim directly

Source citation format

See more details

More for · 2

science.nasa.gov: Mars Climate Orbiter - NASA Science

Recorded source metadata

science.nasa.gov: Mars Climate Orbiter - NASA Science. science.nasa.gov. https://science.nasa.gov/mission/mars-climate-orbiter/

Notes the orbiter failed due to a navigation error caused by failing to translate English units to metric.

Source citation format

science.org: A System Fails at Mars, a Spacecraft Is Lost | Science

Recorded source metadata

science.org: A System Fails at Mars, a Spacecraft Is Lost | Science. science.org. https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.286.5444.1457

Confirms the root cause was the misuse of English units instead of metric-seconds for thruster data.

Source citation format

The paper trail · every fact has a biography

first checked31 Jul 2026

judged → SUPPORTED · 7531 Jul 2026

More receipts

Is it true that Phonological evolution involves regular processes of phoneme elision, vowel nasalization, and tonogenesis?Is it true that Hemangiomas are treatable with medication?Is it true that Research identifies forms of intelligence that diverge from standard IQ measures?

Random receipt →The Trust Wiki →

Anyone with this link can read the claim and its public receipt, including any personal information in that text. Open permanent receipt.

Check your own claim

Challenge the receipt

I have a source that contradicts this verdict I have a source that supports it No source: request a receipt review Requests are recorded for review. This does not start an automatic check or guarantee a response time.

trust me, bro: win the argument, pass the class, survive peer review.

Citation formatting by citeproc-js (Frank Bennett) and the Citation Style Language project. Source and licenses.

This receipt is an automated verdict against our published method · not an opinion about any author or publication.
Terms · Privacy · How verdicts work · Dispute this receipt