NASA's Carbon Observatory Fails To Reach Orbit | Aero-News Network
Aero-News Network
RSS icon RSS feed
podcast icon MP3 podcast
Subscribe Aero-News e-mail Newsletter Subscribe

Airborne Unlimited -- Most Recent Daily Episodes

Episode Date

Airborne-Monday

Airborne-Tuesday

Airborne-Wednesday Airborne-Thursday

Airborne-Friday

Airborne On YouTube

Airborne-Unlimited-12.08.25

AirborneNextGen-
12.02.25

Airborne-Unlimited-12.03.25

Airborne-FltTraining-12.04.25

AirborneUnlimited-12.05.25

AFE 2025 LIVE MOSAIC Town Hall (Archived): www.airborne-live.net

Tue, Feb 24, 2009

NASA's Carbon Observatory Fails To Reach Orbit

Fairing Did Not Separate As Intended

NASA’s Orbiting Carbon Observatory satellite failed to reach orbit after its 1:55 am PST liftoff Tuesday morning from California’s Vandenberg Air Force Base.

"We could not make orbit," NASA program manager John Brunschwyler told CNN in the minutes after launch. "Initial indications are the vehicle did not have enough [force] to reach orbit and landed just short of Antarctica in the ocean."

"Certainly for the science community, it's a huge disappointment." Preliminary indications are that the atmospheric fairing protecting the OCC atop the Taurus XL launch vehicle failed to separate.

Orbital Sciences Corp. built the OCO satellite for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). It was intended to collect and disseminate precise global measurements of carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations in the Earth's atmosphere to scientists studying global climate change. The company also constructed the Taurus launch vehicle.

A Mishap Investigation Board is to determine the cause of the launch failure.

FMI: www.nasa.gov, www.orbital.com

Advertisement

More News

Aero-FAQ: Dave Juwel's Aviation Marketing Stories -- ITBOA BNITBOB

Dave Juwel's Aviation Marketing Stories ITBOA BNITBOB ... what does that mean? It's not gibberish, it's a lengthy acronym for "In The Business Of Aviation ... But Not In The Busine>[...]

NTSB Prelim: Rutan Long-EZ

The Pilot Attempted Several Times To Restart The Engine And Diverted To Long Beach Airport/Daughtery Field On October 20, 2025, about 1603 Pacific daylight time, an experimental am>[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Term (12.05.25): Hazardous Weather Information

Hazardous Weather Information Summary of significant meteorological information (SIGMET/WS), convective significant meteorological information (convective SIGMET/WST), urgent pilot>[...]

Aero-News: Quote of the Day (12.05.25)

"The latest development underscores the government of Malaysia’s commitment in providing closure to the families affected by this tragedy..." Source: From statements made by >[...]

Airborne-Flight Training 12.04.25: Ldg Fee Danger, Av Mental Health, PC-7 MKX

Also: IAE Acquires Diamond Trainers, Army Drones, FedEx Pilots Warning, DA62 MPP To Dresden Tech Uni The danger to the flight training industry and our future pilots is clear. Dona>[...]

blog comments powered by Disqus



Advertisement

Advertisement

Podcasts

Advertisement

© 2007 - 2025 Web Development & Design by Pauli Systems, LC