General
mission critical
What does mission critical mean?
Describing a task or system whose failure would jeopardise the whole effort.
"The payment system is mission critical, it can't go down."
Origin
From NASA/aerospace mission terminology.
Frequently asked questions
What does 'mission critical' mean?
It describes a system or task so essential that its failure would jeopardise the entire operation or project.
How is it used?
As an adjective, e.g. 'The database is mission-critical infrastructure.'
Where does it come from?
It originated in NASA and aerospace mission terminology and spread into business use.
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