The wait may be a while longer for CO2 answers

[efusco]

A rocket bearing a new satellite to measure/monitor CO2 levels crashed after the stages failed to separate.

video: Nasa loses its first CO2 satellite after launch failure - Times Online

The centrepiece of Nasa’s $280 million climate-change mission crashed into the sea near Antarctica today, delivering a heavy blow to the agency’s attempts to chart global warming.
The space agency’s first carbon dioxide-monitoring satellite took off on a rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California this morning, but after blasting through the Earth’s atmosphere it fell short of its orbiting height and plummeted back towards the sea.
The orbiting carbon observatory (OCO) satellite was designed to map carbon dioxide on Earth to provide an important step forward for scientists studying climate change.

[jayman]

Whoopsy-daisy

These expsensive Failure Modes are almost always caused by something fairly simple eg: forgot to hook up wires for explosive bolts, forgot to turn on sequencer, etc

It's only taxpayer money. They'll happily build another one

[qbee42]

The explosive bolts were probably installed by a hard line republican: "What global warming?"

Tom

[jayman]

Too funny. I mean, baaaaaaaaa

[efusco]

Originally Posted by qbee42

The explosive bolts were probably installed by a hard line republican: "What global warming?"

Tom

No no no, it was the enviro-geeks who are afraid of having their huge fraud that is GW exposed for what it is. They intentionally sabotagged things so they can persist in their fear mongering and persist in the sale of hemp and PV panels.

[jayman]

Even funnier. You sheepish guy, you

[Mike Dimmick]

The software was programmed for a separation distance in metres, but was configured for a separation distance in feet.



(Something similar caused the crash landing of one of the Mars landers, as I recall.)

[tochatihu]

There already a couple of birds up that can provide a limited version of the same data. It's hard to imagine anybody paying for a redo on the OCO in the near future, so we will probably have to make do with what's already in orbit.

[TimBikes]

Originally Posted by efusco

No no no, it was the enviro-geeks who are afraid of having their huge fraud that is GW exposed for what it is. They intentionally sabotagged things so they can persist in their fear mongering and persist in the sale of hemp and PV panels.

Now THAT made me laugh.

Anyway, it's always a bad thing to lose a bird. They cannot be easily replaced - takes years to rebuild, big bucks, and finding a slot on already booked launch schedules.

[Shawn Clark]

Originally Posted by Mike Dimmick

The software was programmed for a separation distance in metres, but was configured for a separation distance in feet.



(Something similar caused the crash landing of one of the Mars landers, as I recall.)

The really irksome part about that one was that the units difference was appearing as a systematic navigation error in prior burns IIRC. The team didn't resolve the source of the discrepancy.

I don't launch rockets, but I learned long ago to "sweat the small stuff" as something bigger was often lurking behind it. When that little voice is saying "hey, this is unexpected!" I pay attention or at least note it for future reference. Serendipity and eureka moments arise from answering those nagging questions/inconsistencies. Failure awaits those who routinely ignore them.