Nasa global warming satellite fails to reach orbit

[Nostalgia]

A Nasa satellite launched on a two-year mission to track global warming has failed to detach from a rocket and reach orbit.

The Taurus XL rocket carrying the Orbiting Carbon Observatory blasted off in a pre-dawn take off from California's Vandenberg Air Force Base. But minutes into its mission, Nasa controllers said that the mission was in jeopardy.

George Diller, a Nasa spokesman, said that the payload failed to separate properly from the spacecraft after the launch.

The malfunction appeared to be with the "fairing", which shelters the payload as the launch vehicle flies through the atmosphere.

"It appears that there were problems separating," said Mr Diller, adding that the satellite "did not achieve orbit".

"We are still evaluating the status of the location and the exact state," of the spacecraft, he said.

"We have not had a successful launch tonight."

He added that Nasa's launch managers had now shifted to a contingency plan but did not elaborate on the details.

The observatory, part of a $280 million (£192) mission, is Nasa's first satellite dedicated to monitoring carbon dioxide emissions on a global scale.

The setback is just the latest in a string of problems Nasa has faced, which have prompted the US space agency to undertake a major review to ensure its future success.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sciencean...ach-orbit.html

Don't you mean the Global Cooling satellite?


They could not get that up and running and ruin the Bullshit we are all supposed to unquestionably swallow now would they?