At that time, the Mars Climate Orbiter, reached the planet but navigation errors brought it in too close and to its probable destruction.

The failure of the Mars Polar Lander took place two and a half months after the loss of the Mars Climate Orbiter.

On Sept. 23, 1999, NASA fired rockets intended to nudge its Mars Climate Orbiter into a stable low-altitude orbit.

The cost of losing the Mars Climate Orbiter is low - about 50 cents per American citizen, but the cost in time has been great.

Much of this work was to have been done by the ill-fated Mars Climate Orbiter.

One of the most infamous cases of this in recent history was the loss of NASA's Mars Climate Observer spacecraft.

In September, yet another craft, the Mars Climate Orbiter, vanished as it approached the planet.

In September, NASA lost the $125 million Mars Climate Orbiter.

Everything went smoothly, but not for its companion, the Mars Climate Orbiter.

On Sept. 23, the $123 million Mars Climate Orbiter was lost when it veered off course and burned up in the Martian atmosphere.