US: Satellite mission to monitor carbon dioxide fails: NASA
25 Feb 2009 2:47 AM
WASHINGTON, Feb 24 AFP - A US satellite to monitor global carbon dioxide emissions failed to reach orbit early Tuesday and crashed into the ocean near Antarctica, officials said at a NASA press conference.
NASA said the satellite launched successfully from the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California aboard a Taurus XL rocket at 1.55am (2051 AEDT).
A fatal mission error occurred minutes after liftoff when a clamshell-like fairing that protects the satellite during its ascent failed to separate properly.
"The vehicle ... landed just short of Antarctica in the ocean," announced John Brunschwyler, program director for the Taurus launch rocket at the Virginia-based private company Orbital Sciences Corporation.
"Our whole team at a very personal level are disappointed, we are very upset with the results," added Brunschwyler.
It was the first time NASA has used a Taurus rocket, the US space agency said.
"The liftoff was smooth," Jet Propulsion Laboratory spokesman Alan Buis said.
"It was pretty far along in the ascent" over the Pacific Ocean when the "contingency" was declared, Buis said, adding no further details.
The mission of the Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO) was to map the global distribution of carbon dioxide and study how that distribution changes over time, NASA said in a statement.
Carbon dioxide is the leading greenhouse gas driving climate change.
Other than the verbal commentary during the launch there was little visual indication on NASA TV that the satellite had failed.
"Several minutes into the flight, launch managers declared a contingency when the fairing failed to separate properly," NASA said in a brief statement.
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.
The Japanese mission will help scientists measure the density of carbon dioxide and methane from almost the entire surface of the Earth, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) said.
A Japanese-made H-2A rocket carrying the Greenhouse Gases Observing Satellite (GOSAT) blasted off from Tanegashima, a small island in southern Japan.
The satellite is collecting data from 56,000 locations around the world, a dramatic increase from the 282 observation points available as of last October, JAXA said.
Japan hopes the mission will provide governments with useful data as they come under pressure to meet their 2008-2012 Kyoto Protocol goal of cutting greenhouse gas emissions.
