A failed NASA mission, in which a spacecraft crashed into a satellite instead of autonomously docking with it, suffered serious problems with its navigation systems, according to a summary report on the the official investigation, released on Monday.
The $110 million DART mission Demonstration of Autonomous Rendezvous Technology went awry in April 2005. At the time of the crash, reads the report: DART was flying toward [the satellite] at 1.5 metres per second while its navigational system thought it was 130 metres away and retreating at 0.3 metres per second.
The summary report which will not be released in full due to the sensitivity of its contents cites a lack of engineering experience and lack of consultation with advisors, pressure to meet deadlines and a failure to adequately test all technical decisions as key factors in the failure.