In this case study, we look at the quality approaches that were undertaken by NASA
in 1999 when it lost the Mars Climate Orbiter, a 338 kg robotic space probe (with a cost of
$327.6 million dollars) due to a failed translation of British units into metric units in the
mission software. This mistake triggered an unintentional de-orbit of the probe and its
subsequent disintegration in Mars’ upper atmosphere. This case study analysis will focus on
the different types of quality approaches, methods, and tools that would help mitigate the 8
contributing factors that were identified by the Mars Climate Orbiter Mission Failure
Investigation Board. This case analysis will focus on each of the 8 contributing factors and
provide possible quality approaches, methods, and tools that could help mitigate them. James,
T (2011) writes, “Garvin’s (1984) eight dimensions of quality characteristics which a
customer looks for in a particular product which namely; performance, features, reliability,
conformance, durability, serviceability, aesthetics and other perceptions. The approaches and
methods proposed in this case study would focus on these quality characteristics.
The 8 Contributing factors and Mitigating Quality Approaches
1. Errors went undetected within ground-based computer models of how small thruster
firings on the spacecraft were predicted and then carried out on the spacecraft during its
interplanetary trip to Mars.
To mitigate these type of errors, NASA should have identified and minimize all costs of
achieving good quality. Prevention steps should have been undertaken and highly valued
when the ground-based models were designed. An appraisal approach needs to be done in
order to check to “see if problems have occurred during or after the creation of the
product/service-testing and inspection” James, T. (2011).
2. The operational navigation team was not fully informed on the details of the way that
Mars Climate Orbiter was pointed in space, as compared to the earlier Mars Global
Surveyor mission.
James, T. (2011) assignable causes of variation are a statistical process control (SPC)
the approach that ensures variations attributed to change in the process need to be investigated and
rectified. This change in process could have been easily investigated and rectified so that the
operational navigation team was informed in other earlier NASA Mars mission.
3. A final, optional engine firing to raise the spacecraft’s path relative to Mars before its
arrival was considered but not performed for several interdependent reasons.
Chance causes of variation would be an ideal product quality approach that could be used to
mitigate this kind of contributing factors. This SPC approach ensures that a stable system
where all “inherent variability due to factors such as ambient temperatures, wear of moving
parts, or slight variations in the composition of the materials that are being processed” James,
T (2011), are quickly identified and checked.
4. The systems engineering function within the project that is supposed to track and double check
all interconnected aspects of the mission were not robust enough, exacerbated by
the first-time handover of a Mars-bound spacecraft from a group that constructed it and
launched it to a new, multi-mission operations team.
NASA should have implemented a quality control program whereby it can conduct
the periodic inspection in all the interconnected aspects of the mission. This will enable quick
feedback on results and adjustments on the various phases of the project. According to Jain,
M. (n.d), “quality assurance is quality control but with an emphasis on quality at the design
stage of the products, processes, and jobs and in the selection of manpower and their
training”.
5. Some communications channels among project engineering groups were too informal.
It is vital for NASA to employ interoperability where communication channels and
information exchanged between engineering groups are used resourcefully. A sense of
connectivity and continuity need to be developed from the exchanges of information that lead
to a more substantial and concrete communication supply chain. According to “Quality
Characteristics,” (n.d) the “degree to which the information system is tailored to the
organization and the profile of the end users for whom it is intended, as well as the degree to
which the information system contributes to the achievement of the company goals”.
6. The small mission navigation team was oversubscribed and its work did not receive peer
review by independent experts.
An excellent management team would have identified the issues involved here and thus
decisions could be made to improve the productivity of the system. Opportunities for peer
review by independent experts could have been made possible with total quality management
strategies.
7. Personnel was not trained sufficiently in areas such as the relationship between the
operation of the mission and its detailed navigational characteristics, or the process of
filing formal anomaly reports.
Quality is the responsibility of all the employees in all parts of an organization. Having them
trained and receive some professional development in these areas would have helped reduce
this factor. Product quality is directly related to the professional ability and skill level of
employees and workers involved in the entire manufacturing process.
8. The process to verify and validate certain engineering requirements and technical
interfaces between some project groups, and between the project and its prime mission
the contractor was inadequate.
It is vitally important for such million dollar projects to follow a process of verification and
validation that is extremely thorough and efficient. This helps bring about the quality
characteristic conformance. Jain, M. (n.d) writes, “the process capability, inspection, and
process control are involved in achieving this conformance so that product/goods produced
to meet the pre-decided specifications”. Having control charts would be a tool that could be
used by NASA for such major launching projects.
Conclusion
According to the chairman of the Mars Climate Orbiter Mission Failure Investigation
Board, “The 'root cause' of the loss of the spacecraft was the failed translation of English
units into metric units in a segment of ground-based, navigation-related mission software, as
NASA has previously announced". This led to the 8 significant factors that allowed this error
to be born. Errors such as this could have been easily mitigated had the Mars orbiter mission
team considered the DMAIC method. “This is a five-step methodology of define, measure,
analyze, improve and control,” James, T. (2011). This approach would definitely raise the
quality characteristics of the 338 kg robotic space probe Mars Climate Orbiter. The closer
aligned the quality of a product to Garvin’s (1984) eight dimensions of quality
characteristics, the higher the chances of a successful launch.
Reference:
• Jain, M. (n.d). Product Quality: Definition, Characteristics, and Importance.
Retrieved from: http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/products/quality/product-qualitydefinition-
characteristics-and-importance/90711
• James, T. (2011). Operations Strategy. Bookboon.
• Mars Climate Orbiter Failure Board Releases Report, numerous NASA actions
underway in response, (199, November 10). Retrieved from:
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msp98/news/mco991110.html
• Quality Characteristics, (n.d). Retrieved from:
http://www.tmap.net/wiki/quality-characteristics
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