A NASA investigation team is trying to determine why a protective nose cone failed to detach during the launching of a climate satellite on Tuesday morning, dooming the $278 million mission and leaving scientists without a much-anticipated advance in the tracking of global carbon dioxide emissions.
The Orbiting Carbon Observatory lifted off on schedule at 1:55 a.m. Pacific time from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California aboard a four-stage Taurus XL rocket. But about three minutes later, seven seconds after the ignition of the third stage, the payload fairing — a nose cone that protects the satellite as it rises through the atmosphere — failed to separate as commanded.
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