A dark day for scientists fighting global warming as the almost $300 M satellite that was supposed to have been used to map the amount of CO2 in the earth’s atmosphere suffered a malfunction during lift off.
According to the press release by NASA:
NASA’s Orbiting Carbon Observatory satellite failed to reach orbit after its 4:55 a.m. EST liftoff Tuesday from California’s Vandenberg Air Force Base.
Preliminary indications are that the fairing on the Taurus XL launch vehicle failed to separate. The fairing is a clamshell structure that encapsulates the satellite as it travels through the atmosphere.
Video of the Launch found here (from wired):
The Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO) is the first satellite dedicated to studying atmospheric carbon dioxide. The satellite will map carbon dioxide’s sources in the earth’s atmosphere. It can determine places on the Earth where carbon dioxide is being added to the atmosphere and where it is being removed.
In a practical sense, it can help scientists, governments, countries, etc concentrate their carbon reduction efforts on areas where there are high concentrations of CO2 instead of a globalwide blanket approach which could be too expensive.
Category: Global Warming, Carbon Emissions
