We’ve all been there. You fumble your TV while mounting it or spill a tray of drinks—and your heart drops with them.
Now imagine doing that with a satellite... worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
That nightmare became reality back in 2003.
A technician working for a company subcontracted by NASA and NOAA accidentally dropped the NOAA N-Prime weather satellite.
The high-tech behemoth, built by Lockheed Martin, was in the middle of a routine move.
It slipped a meter off a cart and slammed into concrete.
Why Did It Fall?
Turns out, 24 bolts that were supposed to hold it in place were missing.
A different team had removed them earlier and, well, forgot to mention it.
The fallout? Massive. The satellite was totaled. Lockheed Martin had to cough up all its profits from the project and rebuild it for free.
The U.S. government still picked up a $135 million tab.
“Hope George W. Bush was sitting down when he got the bill,” NASA’s Dave Steitz quipped.
The satellite eventually launched in 2009—six years later than planned.
