Space isn't having a great few months — from the exploding mishaps of Orbital Science's Antares rocket, to the terrible tragedy of Virgin Galactic's test flight, and the yay-but-oh-shit rollercoaster that's been the ESA's comet landing, things aren't going entirely to plan. This isn't without precedent, though: if you shoot enough things into the sky on top of volatile rockets, some of them are going to let you down. Or blow up.
Here is a brief look at mankind's finest facepalm moments in the final frontier.
Mars Climate Orbiter
In December 1998, NASA launched a probe that was destined for Mars, to study the climate and atmosphere of our closest planetary neighbour. Unfortunately, on September 23rd, 1999, the probe 'encountered' Mars at a lower orbit than planned, which resulted in burning up, and a rather embarassing $125 million loss for NASA.
