Mars probe killed by software update

Please! Everyone! Try to keep the Microsoft jokes to a minimum!

NASA has reported that a software patch
uploaded to the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft in June 2006 directly caused its failure some five months later. Because of the patch, the spacecraft entered a special “error mode” and reoriented itself.
The new position exposed one of the batteries to the sun, which fried it
like an Apple laptop (well a Sony Battery!!).

The Surveyor had ten good years, though, the longest any probe has spent studying Mars.

Near the bottom of the linked article suggests that maybe cost cutbacks contributed to this failure.

From - Goldcoaster Blog