A rocket carrying NASA's newest climate satellite failed to reach orbit today (March 4) after its nose cone failed to separate as planned.
The Taurus XL rocket blasted off at about 2:10 a.m. PST (1010 GMT) from a launch pad at the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California carrying NASA's $424 million Glory satellite to study Earth's climate.
The mission had been delayed more than a week due to a computer glitch that thwarted a Feb. 23 launch try.
But minutes after liftoff, the Taurus XL rocket's nose cone – a clamshell-like covering around the satellite called a fairing that is designed to separate during the trip into orbit – suffered some sort of failure, NASA spokesperson George Diller said.
"The fairing did not separate from the Taurus and the Glory spacecraft is not able to achieve orbit," Diller said in televised commentary about 15 minutes after liftoff
Read More
The Taurus XL rocket blasted off at about 2:10 a.m. PST (1010 GMT) from a launch pad at the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California carrying NASA's $424 million Glory satellite to study Earth's climate.
The mission had been delayed more than a week due to a computer glitch that thwarted a Feb. 23 launch try.
But minutes after liftoff, the Taurus XL rocket's nose cone – a clamshell-like covering around the satellite called a fairing that is designed to separate during the trip into orbit – suffered some sort of failure, NASA spokesperson George Diller said.
"The fairing did not separate from the Taurus and the Glory spacecraft is not able to achieve orbit," Diller said in televised commentary about 15 minutes after liftoff
Read More
