Almost twenty years ago, a conversion oversight resulted in NASA losing a Mars orbiter. Guess even rocket scientists make mistakes sometimes.
Four Nebraska middle-school students have earned a chance to compete for national math glory.
Viet Lai, Evan Sun, Jay Peng and Jayanth Athipatla were the top four finishers in the Nebraska MATHCOUNTS competition Saturday.
The students from Omaha and Lincoln will compete as a team representing the state in the national competition May 7-9 in Washington, D.C.
MATHCOUNTS competition is not for the faint of heart, as students race the clock to solve mind-boggling problems.
The state competition features students who advanced from chapter competitions across Nebraska.
Lai, from Scott Middle School in Lincoln, finished first in the state competition after the sprint and target rounds.
In second place was Sun, from Peter Kiewit Middle School in Millard Public Schools. Sun also took first in the countdown round, a quiz-show style oral event where problems are projected on a screen and two students go head-to-head to see who can buzz in with the correct answer.
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Peng, from Moore Middle School in Lincoln, took third, and Athipatla, from Elkhorn Valley View Middle School in Elkhorn Public Schools, finished fourth.
The team receives an all-expenses-paid trip to the national competition, compliments of the Raytheon Corp. The chapter and state competitions are sponsored by the Nebraska Society of Professional Engineers.
Photos: Majestic sandhill cranes in Nebraska
Aurora cranes
The annual sandhill crane migration is in full swing from Hamilton to Buffalo counties. These two magnificent specimens squabbled over breakfast at midmorning Monday just a few miles east of Aurora and north of U.S. 34.
Fort Kearny cranes
People watch and photograph sandhill cranes from the Fort Kearny Hike-Bike Trail bridge over the Platte River at Fort Kearny State Recreation Area in Buffalo County.
Sandhill cranes on the Platte River in Nebraska
Sandhill cranes gather near farm machinery
Sandhill cranes gather near farm machinery March 20 south of Gibbon.
Cranes fly in waves on a cloudy evening
Cranes fly in waves on a cloudy evening March 20 south of Gibbon.
A pair of sandhill cranes glide in a clear blue sky
A pair of sandhill cranes glide in a clear blue sky March 20 south of Gibbon.
Sandhill cranes forage for food in a field
Sandhill cranes forage for food in a field south of Gibbon on March 20.
Sandhill cranes fly over a field
Sandhill cranes fly over a field while others eat grain on a field south of Gibbon.
Sandhill cranes silhouetted against the evening sky
Sandhill cranes are silhouetted against the evening sky March 20 near Gibbon.
Sandhill cranes flock near an irrigation pivot
Hundreds of sandhill cranes flock together to find grain near an irrigation pivot south of Gibbon.
Sandhill cranes glide in for a landing to roost for the night
Sandhill cranes glide in for a landing to roost for the night March 20 on a sandbar in the Platte River south of Gibbon.
Sandhill cranes begin to roost at sundown
Sandhill cranes begin to roost at sundown on a Platte River sandbar south of Gibbon while others flock in to take their places.
Sandhill cranes at sunset
A sunset provides the perfect backdrop for watching sandhill cranes March 20 south of Gibbon.
Viewing sandhill cranes from Richard Plautz viewing site
Onlookers view sandhill cranes from the Richard Plautz viewing site on the Platte River 2 miles south of I-80 at Exit 285.
A sandhill crane flies above a field south of Gibbon
A sandhill crane flies above a field while others forage for grain south of Gibbon on March 20.
Cranes in the water
Lesser sandhill cranes touch down in the Platte River near Gibbon during their 2013 migration.
Cranes at sunset
Lesser sandhill cranes fly in at dusk to roost on the Platte River near Gibbon during their 2013 migration.
Cranes
Sandhill cranes near Gibbon in March 2018.Â
Sandhill cranes
Dueling Cranes - Nikon D5, 200-500mm f/5.6, Manual Mode, f/5.6, 1/640 sec., ISO 400, Matrix Metering, AF-C 9-point focus.
Sandhill cranes
Sandhill cranes rest on the Platte River at Martin's Reach Wildlife Management Area in Hall County in 2017.
Sandhill cranes
Sandhill cranes fly in a clear blue sky near Gibbon, Nebraska.
Pair of sandhill cranes at sunset near Gibbon, Nebraska
Pair of sandhill cranes at sunset near Gibbon.
Sandhill cranes flying high
Sandhill cranes on and above a field near Gibbon
Sandhill cranes on and above a field near Gibbon.
Sandhill cranes
Sandhill cranes fill the sky and blanket a sandbar across the Platte River south of Gibbon on Thursday as they roost for the night during a pause in their annual migration.
Cranes
Sandhill cranes feed in cornfields in the Platte River Basin outside of Kearney during their yearly migration north.
Cranes
Sandhill cranes fly into the Platte River Basin outside of Kearney last Wednesday. The annual spectacle continues through early April.
Cranes
Sandhill cranes fly into the Platte River Basin outside of Kearney during their yearly migration north on Wednesday, March 23, 2016.Â
Cranes
Sandhill cranes fly into the Platte River Basin outside of Kearney during their yearly migration north on Wednesday, March 23, 2016.Â
Cranes
Sandhill cranes rest in the Platte River Basin outside of Kearney during their yearly migration north in 2016.Â
The Nebraska Project cranes
Sandhill cranes darken a heavy sky near Alda.
The Nebraska Project
Sandhill cranes greet each other between Alda and Grand Island.
The Nebraska Project
Sandhill cranes gather between Alda and Grand Island.
Sandhill cranes
A fireball sunset along the Platte River as flocks of cranes return after a day of feeding. The view is prehistoric because these birds have been traveling this same path for the past 200,000 years.Â
Sandhill cranes
Flocks of sandhill cranes during the afterglow of sunset on the Platte River south of Gibbon.
Sandhill cranes
Sandhill cranes over the Platte River in 2013.
Sandhill cranes
A flock of Sandhill Cranes reveal their flying plumage as they fly over a corn field near County Road 26 and West Platte River Drive eight miles south of Alda, Neb., on March 23, 2011.
Sandhill cranes
A trio of sandhill cranes come in low on a cornfield on Elm Island Road in Gibbon in March 2011. During the several weeks the cranes spend near the Platte River each year, they consume food to build up fat to use as fuel for the rest of their migration. The majority of this is residue from the fall corn harvest, while the rest is made up of invertebrates such as snails.Â
Sandhill cranes
With tens of thousands of sandhill cranes crowding the sky and strips of land along the Platte River in this 2011 photo, a lone sandhill crane comes in for a landing on a sandbar near the Audubon Rowe Sanctuary.
Sandhill cranes
Funding for some critical habitat programs, affecting such species as sandhill cranes, could be in jeopardy.
Sandhill cranes
These sandhill cranes made a stopover at Martin's Reach Wildlife Management Area in Hall County.
Sandhill crane
Looking for food for its migratory journey, a sandhill crane walks among harvested corn stalks in a field down the road from the Rowe Sanctuary in Gibbon in March 2012.
Sandhill Cranes
Sandhill Cranes search for food in a cornfield near the Rowe Sanctuary, south of Gibbon, Monday, January 16, 2012. The cranes usually spend the winter further south in Texas and Oklahoma but due to drought conditions many cranes have been spending the winter in Kansas and Nebraska.
Sandhill cranes Rowe Bird Sancutary
Sandhill cranes leave their Platte River roost just after sunrise at the Rowe Bird Sanctuary, which is one of the top 10 ecotourist sites in the Great Plains.
Cranes in January
Sandhill Cranes search for food in a cornfield near the Rowe Sanctuary, south of Gibbon, on Monday, Jan. 16th, 2012. The cranes usually spend the winter further south in Texas and Oklahoma but due to drought conditions many cranes have been spending the winter in Kansas and Nebraska.Â
Cranes in January
Sandhill Cranes fly over a field near the Rowe Sanctuary, south of Gibbon, on Monday, Jan. 16th, 2012. The cranes usually spend the winter further south in Texas and Oklahoma but due to drought conditions many cranes have been spending the winter in Kansas and Nebraska.Â
Cranes in January
GIBBON, NE -- 1/16/2012 - Sandhill Cranes gather in a cornfield near the Rowe Sanctuary, south of Gibbon, on Monday, Jan. 16th, 2012. The cranes usually spend the winter further south in Texas and Oklahoma but due to drought conditions many cranes have been spending the winter in Kansas and Nebraska. (JACOB HANNAH/Lincoln Journal Star)
Sandhill cranes
A pair of sandhill cranes come in low on a corn field on Elm Island Road near Gibbon in March of 2011. (FRANCIS GARDLER/Lincoln Journal Star file photo)
Sandhill cranes
Sandhill cranes
Three sandhill cranes wade in the waters of the Platte River at s Rowe Sanctuary looking for a place to roost for the night in March 2011.Â
Sandhill cranes
Sandhill cranes
