[VOA]

NASA's last attempt at landing on Mars, in 1999, failed when a software glitch sent
the Polar Lander crashing to the ground.

That Political-Correctness-Speak for:
"NASA wasted MILLIONS of YOUR DOLLARS when they failed to do the sort of
'dimensional analysis' in their calculations...switching miles and kilometers in the calculations...thus assuring
that the space probe would crash into the red planet."

The sort of mistake that a high school physics or chemistry student would get
no credit (an "F") for doing.

Of course, as far as I heard, nobody at NASA was fired for this monumental stupidity.

[Prime Choice]

You're thinking of a different craft. The polar lander crashed because its internal sensors mistook the vibrations of the landing gear deployment for the vibrations it expected upon touchdown. As a consequence, the engines shut off prematurely and the orbiter crashed.

See http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/database/MasterCatalog?sc=1999-001A for more details.

The lost probe to which you refer was the Mars Climate Observer. It was lost not because of distance conversion miscalculations, but thrust miscalculations during the course of orbital insertion.

So please make sure you have the facts straight when issuing such blanket condemnations.

Besides, if NASA were truly comprised of the caliber of morons you think they must have, we wouldn't be celebrating this latest and greatest success.

[Prime Choice]

Of course, as far as I heard, nobody at NASA was fired for this monumental stupidity.

You wouldn't have heard about said termination even if it occurred. It's none of the public's business if a private individual is reprimanded or released from his position.

NASA's a fine outfit. Sure, there's always a select number of folks who screw up royally here and there. Show me any comparably-advanced technical organization that doesn't have any such people.

[Captain Kirk]

This is a giant boondogle.