Posts from — February 2009

The Orbiting Carbon Observatory satellite that was supposed to measure global warming isn’t in space this morning, but somewhere in the Pacific near Antarctica. The satellite launched this morning at about 4:55am EST  from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. NASA believes that the cause of the failure was caused when the fairing on the Taurus XL launch vehicle failed to separate. The fairing, if you don’t already know, is the two pieces of the nosecone surrounding the satellite that open up prior to the release of the satellite.

Picture: NASA

Here is a video from Youtube of the launch of the NOAA-N Prime meteorlogical satellite that launched early this morning at Vandenberg Air Force Base. I will probably have detailed information later today.

Photo Credit: Carleton Bailie/United Launch Alliance

The NOAA-N Prime satellite is a satellite built by Lockheed Martin for NASA. This is one of five satellites of it’s kind. The NOAA-N Prime will relay meteorlogical data to NOAA and is even equipped with sensors that aid search and rescue when a satellite-aided emergency device is enabled.  The satellite is currently onboard of a Delta II rocket at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The launch has been scrubbed two times. The next attempt will be tomorrow (Friday) at 3am. If you wish to get up and watch the launch, tune into NASA TV or Click Here.