Space Scopes
In July 1962, a NASA engineer transcribing the Mariner 1 guidance code missed a single overbar above the letter R, and 293 seconds after launch the rocket veered off course over the Atlantic and had to be destroyed — a hyphen-shaped error that Arthur C. Clarke later called the most expensive missing punctuation mark in history
On July 22, 1962, Mariner 1 was destroyed 293 seconds after launch because a single missing symbol in its guidance code — a mark smaller than a grain of rice — sent the rocket chasing phantom course corrections. Arthur C. Clarke called it the most expensive hyphen in history.
Jul 21, 2026