NASA satellite plummets into ocean before reaching orbit

A US satellite to monitor global carbon dioxide emissions plummeted into the ocean near Antarctica yesterday after failing to reach orbit, NASA said, calling it a major disappointment for climate science

A US satellite to monitor global carbon dioxide emissions plummeted into the ocean near Antarctica yesterday after failing to reach orbit, NASA said, calling it a major disappointment for climate science.

The satellite launched successfully from the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California aboard a Taurus XL rocket at 1.55 am (local time), NASA said.

A fatal mission error occurred minutes after liftoff when a clamshell-like nose cone known as a fairing, which protects the satellite during its ascent, failed to separate properly.

"The initial indications show that the vehicle did not have enough lift to reach orbit and landed short of Antartica in the ocean," said John Brunschwyler, programme director for the Taurus rocket at Orbital Sciences Corporation, the Virginia-based company that built it.

NASA flight director Chuck Dovale called it "a huge disappointment" for the science community.

It was the first time NASA had used a Taurus rocket, but Brunschwyler said the system has had a nearly perfect record in previous flights with no issues with the fairing design.

The mission of the Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO) was to map the global distribution of carbon dioxide and study how it changes over time, NASA said. Carbon dioxide is the leading greenhouse gas driving climate change.

It was NASA's first spacecraft dedicated to studying carbon dioxide, though not the first in orbit: on January 23 Japan launched the world's first satellite dedicated to monitoring greenhouse gas emissions.

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