Warehouse 13 Artifact Database Wiki
Advertisement
Warehouse 13 Artifact Database Wiki
Navigational Software from the Mars Climate Orbiter

Origin

Mars Climate Orbiter

Type

Software Programming

Effects

Switches measurements between US standard and metric

Downsides

Causes programming and electronics to malfunction

Activation

Proximity to number units

Collected by

Warehouse 13

Section

Aether-729W

Aisle

276848-5462

Shelf

571668-2384-065

Date of Collection

February 9, 2003

[Source]


Origin[]

The Mars Climate Orbiter was a robotic space probe launched by NASA in December of 1998. On board was a land surveyor meant to analyze the Martian atmosphere and climate alongside the orbiter. However, communication with the orbiter was lost and its trajectory pulled too close to Mars, disintegrating in the upper atmosphere. The cause of this crash was an error in part of the software. Instead of being measured in the standard metric system, an outside contractor had placed measurements for the navigational software in US standard instead.

Effects[]

Causes all forms of unit measurement to switch between US standard and the metric system. It converts all numbers, whether they are in a digital, analog or written format. To affect non-electronic numbers, a glowing mass of energy making computer clicks and beeps will exit the containment unit. Any electronic devices affected by it will malfunction until unusable.

Since it is an artifact that cannot normally be physically interacted with, the strings of code itself where trapped within a specially crafted biomechanical unit. With no data, the code cannot convert any programming systems. Being made out of an organic and mechanical composite allows the code to remain in place but unable to leave, trapping it inside.

Astronomy Artifacts
Astronomers Clyde W. Tombaugh's Photographic PlatesEdmond Halley's TelescopeErnst Chladni's PlateFritz Zwicky’s Meteor PelletsGalileo Galilei's AstrolabeHeinrich Wilhelm Matthias Olbers’ TelescopeJohannes Hevelius' QuadrantJohannes Kepler's Telescope LenseJohn Flamsteed's Star CatalogueKazimierz Kordylewski’s TelescopeLuis Alvarez's Iridium ChunkNicolaus Copernicus' Armillary SphereTycho Brahe's Prosthetic NosesVera Rubin's ProtractorWilliam Wales' Portable Observatory
Exploration Missions American Apollo 11 Lunar Landing Hoax SetApollo 13 Command ModuleApollo 15 Geologic Hammer and Falcon FeatherChris Hadfield's Acoustic GuitarColumbia Space ShuttleNavigational Software from the Mars Climate OrbiterPete Conrad's Space BootsRichard F. Gordon Jr's Spacesuit HelmetSaturn VThe Fourth AstronautWally Schirra’s Insignia PatchesWilliam Safire’s Apollo 11 Speech
Soviet / Russian Alexey Leonov's "Near the Moon"Laika's HarnessSputnik's AntennaUSSR Space CapsuleValentin Bondarenko's Cotton BallsValeri Polyakov's Blood Pressure CuffVladislav Volkov’s SpacesuitYuri Gagarin's Hockey PuckYuri Gagarin's SpacesuitYuri Gagarin's Lieutenant Pin
Other Edward Makuka Nkoloso’s Oil DrumMatroshka Experiments Mannequin
Natural Phenomenon Samples Chunk of the Chelyabinsk MeteorExplosive Meteor FragmentNWA 7034Piece of Halley's CometStar Jelly
Solar Prominence Donald Liebenberg's Eclipse GlassesÉvry Schatzman's TelescopeJohannes Fabricius' Camera ObscuraObelisk from St. Peter's BasilicaRa's ScepterRa's Solar Barge
Lunar Activity Chang'e's BuyaoJean Chastel's Silver GunLi Bai’s Rosewood Wall PanelsPrincess Kaguya’s Bamboo SwordSelene's TiaraTobias Mayer's Reflecting CircleWang Zhenyi's Lunar Eclipse
Exotic Physics Fred Hoyle’s Rubik's CubeGeorge Biddell Airy's Transit InstrumentHermann Weyl's Drafting CompassHolmdel Horn AntennaJames Chadwick's Nobel PrizeJocelyn Bell Burnell's Chart RecorderJohannes Kepler's Planetary ModelJohn Archibald Wheeler’s Newton CradleKarl Schwarzchild's Pocket WatchLouis Essen's Alarm Clock
Extraterrestrial Life Purported Sightings Heaven's Gate HomepageJ. Allen Hynek's TelescopeWilliam Brazel's Cowboy Hat
Fictional Encounters Bolaji Badejo's BeretCybermen OutfitsDalek CostumesFox Mulder's 'I Want To Believe' PosterGarrett P. Serviss' Prop Martian GunGeorge Lucas' Original Prop LightsaberH. R. Giger's Mechanical PencilHAL 9000 PropOmnitrix ToyOrson Welles' MicrophoneRichard O'Brien's StockingsU.S. Air Force Space Probe No. 1Zathura
Miscellaneous Bill Kaysing's FeatherCarl Sagan's JacketCharles Fort’s Newspaper ClippingsConrad Haas’ NozzleHuitzilopochtli's Sacrificial BowlJack Parson's Rocket EngineLance Bass' Cargo ContainerMaria Margaretha Kirch's EphemerisPiece of the Antikythera MechanismQian Xuesen's Servomechanism


Mathematical Artifacts
90 Mile Beach LanternAdelard of Bath’s AbacusAlbert Einstein's ChalkBlaise Pascal's CalculatorDorr Felt’s ComptometerEdward O. Thorp's Casino ChipEdwin Abbott Abbott’s RulerErwin Schrödinger’s Cat CollarGeorge Dantzig's National Medal of Science AwardGerolamo Cardano's DiceHermann Weyl's Drafting CompassHypatia's ChariotJames Ritty's WalletJohn von Neumann's IAS MachineJoseph Jacquard's Analytical LoomLuis Alvarez's Iridium ChunkMartin Gardner's Flexagons"Monkey" TypewriterNavigational Software from the Mars Climate OrbiterOmar Khayyám's Tent-Making ToolsPappus of Alexandria’s HexagonShizou Kakutani's Geometry SetSrinivasa Ramanujan's StickStanislaw Ulam's CalculatorWilliam Oughtred's Slide Ruler


Advertisement