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Tuesday February 24, 2009
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 A NASA satellite dedicated to monitoring greenhouse gases in the Earth's atmosphere fell back to earth and crashed about three minutes after launch, CNN reports. The Orbiting Carbon Observatory, a $273 million satellite, would have helped better forecast changes in carbon-dioxide levels and their effect on the Earth's climate.
"We could not make orbit," NASA program manager John Brunschwyler said in the article. "Initial indications are the vehicle did not have enough [force] to reach orbit and landed just short of Antarctica in the ocean... Certainly for the science community, it's a huge disappointment."
The launch initially went well. But a few moments in, the clamshell-shaped payload fairing failed to separate from the main rocket, according to the report; the resultant exta weight caused the whole thing to come crashing down minutes later. An investigation has already begun into what caused the failure.
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February 24, 2009 9:29 PM
273....million....dollars
February 24, 2009 9:58 PM
It should be noted that this wasn't a NASA blunder - the launch was only the 8th of Orbital Sciences Corporation's new shiny Taurus rocket, launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base. This is now the 2nd launch failure of those 8 - it's unfortunate, but I think it means OSC needs to revisit the Taurus design, if it's going to wind up costing the science-minded taxpayer millions of dollars.
They say that the signal to blow the explosive bolts that release the last stage got to the rocket, it's just that the bolts didn't blow or the shell didn't come off - now all NASA can do is investigate, and hopefully not award OSC any more launch vehicle contracts until the issue has been corrected.
In the meantime, I hope NASA accelerates the laser instrument technology for its next generation CO2 monitor - we desperately need an observatory looking down at what that satellite was supposed to look for.
February 25, 2009 5:00 PM
Doesn't anyone think in terms of basic math, physics, and geography anymore? In order for the satellite to "crash to earth" near Antarctica three minutes after launching 8000 miles away in California it would need to travel at an average speed of 160,000 mph. This was CNN's original mistake and they have ignored my requests to correct the story. Clearly, the shroud failed to separate 3 minutes into the flight, and the added weight kept it from orbiting.
February 25, 2009 5:01 PM
To back up what Alan H correctly pointed out, much can be also learned from the "human side" of OCO's failure to make orbit by reading the following blog posted at: http://blogs.nasa.gov/cm/blog/OCO%20Blog/
February 25, 2009 5:55 PM
A complete waste of money. of course there is plenty of co2. we excell it every time we breath. stop breathing and save the planet.