# My $500M Mars Rover Mistake: A Failure Story  ## About - Author: Chris Lewicki - Title: My $500M Mars Rover Mistake: A Failure Story - Tags: #articles #favourite - URL: https://www.chrislewicki.com/articles/failurestory ## Highlights In the depths of the crisis, when the tears were flowing and everyone else in the system test center was moving away, one person walked toward me. Ernie, a wise and kind man who had come out of retirement to help with the round-the-clock spacecraft shift work approached me and put his hand around my shoulder, and in a gentle grandfatherly voice quietly reassured me. He then uttered the clear words that I will never forget: ‘Remember this feeling the next time you have to sign-off that something is OK.’ --- I went on to become Flight Director for Spirit and Opportunity as they explored the surface of Mars, earning NASA’s Exceptional Achievement Medal for my efforts, so obviously I didn’t get fired for this incident. But that wasn’t clear until a few days later in one of the more pivotal meetings of my life. In the tense period following the mishap, with definitive analysis still pending, passionate and polarized debates ensued about the tests' hazards, and many argued for stopping them altogether. The debate concluded, and the criticality of these tests — making sure our motors would function flawlessly on Mars — was still paramount. The tests needed to continue. And I still remember the shock when Project Manager Pete delivered the decision and the follow-on news: ‘These tests will continue. And Chris will continue to lead them as we have paid for his education. He’s the last person on Earth who would make this mistake again.’ --- I may have just created a $500M piece of scrap. With only two weeks until the spacecraft was delivered for launch operations, THERE WAS NO TIME to recover from a big problem. I was instantly aware that there may be only one rover launched to Mars on this synodic cycle. And my hands were holding the still-warm rover murder weapon. I had learned from countless experiences in this and other projects that bad news doesn’t get better with age so I immediately keyed the mic on my headset and told Leo, the test conductor running the other testing in parallel, what had just happened. - Note: It's better to break bad news as soon as possible in these situations, as there is always a way with enough time. ---