"Recall the first American space probe to Venus, reportedly lost because Fortran cannot recognize a missing comma in a DO statement…"
— Fortran

January 1, 1970

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Added on April 10, 2026
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Original Language: English

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This is an example of computer folklore incorrectly attributing the loss of the Mariner 1 space probe to a syntax error in a Fortran program. See Risks Digest: Mariner 1, Vol. 9: Iss. 54, 12 Dec 89 (and Risks Digest: "Mariner I -- no holds BARred", Vol. 8: Iss. 75) for what really happened.