Video Most EXPENSIVE Mistakes Ever!

Mistakes happen, it's a fact of human existence, no one is perfect and even the smartest of minds can be forgetful or flaky from time to time.

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4 - Genesis Probe - Backwards Switch
In 2001, NASA launched the Genesis probe into space, the probe's mission was to travel some 1.8 billion miles, in order to collect samples of solar wind. This was done so that scientists could better understand the composition of the solar system, how it was formed, and our sun named Sol. The project came to an end three years later when the probe ended up crashing back to Earth, Utah to be exact, destroying nearly all of the precious collected data. The probe had a release parachute, which was meant for NASA to be able safely intercept and retrieve the probe's samples. However, as the Genesis plummeted back through Earth's atmosphere, scientists scrambled to release the shoot, but the parachute refused to deploy. It took scientists over seven years and lots of picking through Utah desert sand with tweezers in order to obtain the data. Luckily, after painstaking gathering and analyzing the shards from the crashed probe, researchers report the sun is comprised of two types of oxygen and one type of nitrogen. What went wrong? Someone at NASA installed a gravity switch backwards. In total, the entire debacle cost the United States taxpayers 264 million dollars. Which begs the question, how many rocket scientists does it take to install a switch correctly?

3 - New Jersey Education Grant - Wrong Year
In 2010, the state of New Jersey applied for the Race to the Top education grant. This competitive educational reform grant, rewards state schools systems which qualify, with hundreds of millions of dollars in free money. Teachers and students New Jersey get ready to rejoice! There are billions of dollars in this fund, all a state needs to do is apply, right? Well, not this time. Due to a tiny clerical error by one of Governor Chris Christie's mid-level officials, or so he said, trying desperately to dodge blame at local press conferences, New Jersey was pulled from the runnings of Race to the Top in the final round. The state of New Jersey was disqualified, as it fell three points short of winning the already practically promised, 400 million dollars. Turns out, those points were lost due to a line on the form filled out incorrectly, the state official who sent in the document had used the state education budget funds from the year 2008, rather than the year 2009.

2 - Priceless Guitar
In the Quentin Tarantino film, The Hateful Eight, the director wanted to add some validity to the scene, by getting a guitar from the real time frame. The smooth talking director managed to convince a museum to lend his film a 19th century Martin six-string guitar, called so valuable, it was said to be priceless. The scene in the movie, called for Jennifer Jason Leigh's character to sing a song while strumming the guitar, afterward Kurt Russell's character was to smash the thing to pieces. Obviously, the guitar was supposed to be switched out for a cheap replica. And obviously, that didn't happen, apparently the intern working on set that day simply forgot. Instead, the film kept rolling as Kurt Russell unknowingly smashed the priceless piece of rock and roll history to bits, much to the dismay and shock of his female co-star. Re-watch the Hateful Eight, and look for this scene, the look of horror and surprise on Jennifer's face is for real. Which may have helped with her Best Supporting Actress nomination for this picture. Russell was very upset when he learned of his mistake, according to witnesses even tearing up. The museum released a statement saying they would no longer loan guitars to movies under any circumstances.

1 - Scientific Research to Preserve Planet
Scientists at a government funded laboratory, located inside Australia, had been studying some very rare and valuable samples of soil bacteria, which was called rhizobia, for many long years. This bacteria found inside this dirt has the ability to re-administer nitrogen directly into the soil, essentially acting as a self-replicating all natural fertilizer. Not only is this good for farmers and commercial crops all over the Earth, this tiny little bacteria has the potential for saving the entire planet from world hunger, and in the results of some kind of apocalyptic worldwide disaster, regrowing nearly everything which was lost. In theory anyway. Then, in 2006, a contractor working on building repairs, briefly unplugged the refrigerator housing the bacteria samples, to test some construction equipment. A few days later, the scientists working in the laboratory noticed a faint stench in the air, emanating from the fridge, and the researchers pulled open the door to utter dismay. Turns out that the power on the fridge had never been restored and the potential savior of mankind had been completely spoiled and utterly ruined.