NASA satellite crashes to Earth
The loss of Glory is the second in two years for NASA's troubled Earth-observation programme.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BFAxZflkW0&feature=player_detailpage"Attention all stations, We have had a contingency on the Glory Mission ..."Failure to release a protective covering dragged NASA's Glory mission into the Pacific.
In a serious blow to Earth observation and solar science, NASA's Glory mission crashed today shortly after lift-off.
"All indications are that the satellite and rocket are in the southern Pacific Ocean somewhere," said a visibly upset Omar Baez, NASA's launch director for the mission, at a press conference held early this morning at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, where Glory launched shortly after 2 a.m. local time.
The failure is the second major loss for NASA's Earth-observation programme in as many years. In February 2009, NASA lost its Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO) — intended to track atmospheric carbon dioxide levels — in a strikingly similar incident.http://www.nature.com/news/2011/110304/full/news.2011.138.htmlOnboard were a number of Amateur Radio Satellites which were also lost ....