A robotic NASA spacecraft designed to rendezvous with an orbiting satellite instead crashed into the satellite…Investigators blamed the collision [last year] on faulty navigational data that caused the DART spacecraft to believe that it was backing away from its target when it was actually bearing down on it.

DART successfully located the target satellite orbiting 472 miles above Earth and moved within 300 feet of it. But problems arose when DART tried to circle the satellite.

Unbeknownst to engineers at the time, DART’s main sensor mistakenly believed it was flying away from the satellite when it was actually moving 5 feet per second toward it, investigators found.

The collision pushed the target satellite into a higher orbit. NASA said neither spacecraft pose a threat to other satellites and both will burn up upon re-entry into the atmosphere.

Investigators also raised issues with the mission’s management style, saying that lack of training and experience caused the DART design team to shun expert advice. They also found that internal checks and balances were inadequate in uncovering the mission’s shortcomings.

The 10-page document summarizing DART’s failure comes a year after the spacecraft was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

Last month, NASA said it won’t release the investigative board’s full 70-page report, citing sensitive information protected by International Traffic in Arms Regulations.

Uh-huh.