VANDENBERG AFB, CA - NASA's groundbreaking mission to measure the carbon dioxide in Earth's atmosphere ended before it began this morning when the Orbiting Carbon Observatory failed to reach orbit shortly after launch from California's Vandenberg Air Force Base. The OCO satellite plunged back to Earth, falling in the ocean near Antarctica less than 30 minutes after launch.
WATCH: LAUNCH FAILURE PRESS BRIEFING WATCH: LAUNCH ANOMALY UPDATE WATCH: TAURUS LIFTS OFF WITH OCO WATCH: TAURUS ROCKET PROCESSING HIGHLIGHTS WATCH: OCO SPACECRAFT PROCESSING HIGHLIGHTS ALL-ACCESS SUBSCRIBERS: OCO COUNTDOWN ACTIVITIES "Our whole team, at a very personal level, are disappointed in the vents of thismorning," said Taurus Program Manager at a news conference a couple hours after the rocket's failed launch. "It's very hard, and we are, as I said, at a very personal level, upset with the results." Initially, the launch of the Orbital Sciences Taurus rocket appeared perfect. The vehicle lifted off a few minutes late at 4:55 a.m. EST from Vandenberg's Space Launch Complex 576-E and quickly ascended into low cloud cover over the California coast. Everything appeared normal through the burn of the Taurus' Stage 0 (first stage). Approximately three minutes after liftoff, the rocket's onboard computer commanded the aerodynamic payload fairing on top of the rocket to separate. At that altitude, the fairing was no longer needed to protect the sensitive satellite from the stress of flying through the dense lower atmosphere. At this point, data radioed to the ground began to show signs of trouble. During a normal ascent, the rocket's acceleration increases rapidly after payload fairing jettisons it loses the extra weight of the shroud. However, during OCO's ascent, telemtry data showed no such jump in the vehicle's acceleration. Still, everything else appeared normal and the flight continued as launch controllers nervously watched the data streaming from the vehicle. Burdened by the added weight of the fairing, the Taurus upper stage lacked the thrust to place OCO in orbit. Even if it had, the fairing would have prevented the satellite from successfully deploying. Underpowered, the vehicle arced over the south Pacific and plunged back through the atmosphere before impacting in the ocean near Antarctica. As controllers stood by, it became clear that the mission had failed and the launch director declared a mishap and initiated contingency plans. The loss of OCO deals a severe blow to NASA's new mandate to deploy more missions dedicated to the study of Earth's climate. For Orbital Sciences, the failure cast a pall over its Taurus program and the future of the company's participation in NASA's Launch Services Program, in which Taurus is Orbital Science's offering. (The Spacearium / SpaceflightNews.net / Space Media Corporation)
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