Most Disappointing Failed Mission

[Drunken Hobo]

With the demise* of China's Jade Rabbit, it seems topical to ask this question - what failed space mission disappoints you the most?

For me it's Fobos-Grunt. A sample-return mission from Mars' innermost moon would have been a huge leap forward. It'd have proven that it's possible to get a spacecraft safely back from Mars' gravity well and would helped the feasibility of a manned Mars mission. But it didn't even make it out of low Earth orbit.

Wasn't publicised much at the time, but for me it's the most disappointing mission failure to date.

*Potential, possible, maybe, not-quite-sure-yet.

Edited February 13, 2014 by Drunken Hobo

[radonek]

You've chosen a bad time for your topical question… Jade Rabbit is not dead yet: http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2014/02/13/china_moon_rover_jade_rabbit_alive/

[NASAFanboy]

I agree with Fobos-Grunt. It was so promising.

It would've sent living organisms to Mars and back along with samples of Phobos. What more can I say? It was an feat of technological achievement.

Then it failed.

And I smacked my head into the keyboard in total despair.

[panzerknoef]

I think this is rather obvious: the N1 not only did it never ever make space, it was also the source of the largest non-nuclear accidental explosion

[DonLorenzo]

I was thinking Phobos-Grunt as well, at least for recent missions. It's also a pity that Kepler is failing, the N1 never really got off the pad, so many (especially russian) mars missions failed and ofcourse Challenger and Columbia happened. Those last two are included not only for the loss of lives, but also because of how much they slowed down the space industry

[Drunken Hobo]

I think this is rather obvious: the N1 not only did it never ever make space, it was also the source of the largest non-nuclear accidental explosion

A point of pedantry, but I think the "non-nuclear" part of that is redundant, as I don't believe there has ever been an accidental nuclear explosion.

I was thinking Phobos-Grunt as well, at least for recent missions. It's also a pity that Kepler is failing, the N1 never really got off the pad, so many (especially russian) mars missions failed and ofcourse Challenger and Columbia happened. Those last two are included not only for the loss of lives, but also because of how much they slowed down the space industry

Indeed, the Columbia & Challenger disasters are obviously far worse than Fobos-Grunt, simply due to the loss of life. And I suppose they were also disappointing, as they badly exposed some serious flaws from within NASA.

[lodestar]

With the demise of China's Jade Rabbit

Not so fast:

http://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/feb/13/jade-rabbit-lunar-rover-alive-after-all-says-china

[Drunken Hobo]

Ok, due to popular demand I've edited the original post for accuracy!