Remember the Genesis probe? The deep space gizmo that splatted so spectacularly in the Nevada desert? Engineers think they've found the reason, and it's not dead batteries:

Sensors to detect deceleration on NASA's Genesis space capsule were installed correctly but had been designed upside down, resulting in the failure to deploy the capsule’s parachutes. The design flaw is the prime suspect for why the capsule, carrying precious solar wind ions, crashed in Utah on 8 September, according to a NASA investigation board.

That's right, folks. They weren't installed upside down, they were designed upside down. This is one of those errors that makes project managers go bananas, because there are usually at least half a dozen full-stop checks that are meant to catch things like this.

And it's not just government work either. My dad bought a new truck years ago and noticed the paint on the hood was cracked and crazed. On a lark he filled out the survey card that came with the truck with a lot of "very dissatisifed" selections. Lo and behold, the manager of the plant the truck was produced came out a few weeks later. Turns out he wanted to take the hood back and hang it in front of the plant door, because in order for it to arrive that way it had to have made it through no fewer than seven quality control inspections.

Like the guy says, the more you complicate the plumbing, the easier it is to stop up the drain.