To be orbital, that is. :( No luck on getting some real carbon-cycle data on a global scale with this one. Did Al Gore cause this mission to fail? - HLG
NASA Climate Change Satellite Has Troubled Launch
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, California — A NASA satellite launched on a mission to track carbon dioxide emissions worldwide had technical problems shortly after its pre-dawn takeoff Tuesday that put in jeopardy its mission to better understand greenhouse gas and climate change.
The Taurus XL rocket carrying the Orbiting Carbon Observatory blasted off at 1:55 a.m. PST from Vandenberg Air Force Base on California's Central Coast, but launch managers shifted to a contingency plan minutes later because the payload fairing failed to separate properly from the spacecraft after it left the atmosphere, NASA commentator George Diller said.
"We have not had a successful launch tonight and will not be able to have a successful OCO mission," Diller said.
The fairing shelters the payload as the launch vehicle flies through the atmosphere.
The carbon observatory is NASA's first satellite dedicated to monitoring carbon dioxide on a global scale. Measurements collected from the $280 million mission were expected to improve climate models and help researchers determine where the greenhouse gas is coming from and how much is being absorbed by forests and oceans.
5 comments:
"Nasa's first CO2 satellite crashes into Antarctic Ccean after launch failure"
Horrible carbon footprint left behind. Pollution? Could harm many little critters in the area :(
Only if they are penguins, leopard seals, or skuas, since it failed in a very remote area:
"We could not make orbit," NASA program manager John Brunschwyler said. "Initial indications are the vehicle did not have enough [force] to reach orbit and landed just short of Antarctica in the ocean."
-HLG
You insensitive bastard! Skuas are people too! Just because it landed in a remote area doesn't mean it won't impact the entire planet sooner or later. Remember the butterfly effect?
BB
Typical Global Warming Alarmist (GWA) over-reaction, and resorting to childish name calling.
I do like the idea that we have a new theorem. "The Skua Effect You Insensitive Bastard" (SEYIB) This would relate to all the unintended consequences, and trageides of climate change that rationalist pigs don't care about!
-HLG
Dr BB is filled with hostility today! Such a GWA!
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