US fails to launch satellite
Vandenberg Air Force Base officials in California say the Taurus XL rocket carrying NASA’s Glory satellite failed to reach orbit.
A protective shell on top of the rocket did not separate from the satellite as it should have about three minutes after the launch.
NASA launch commentator George Diller says that left the Glory spacecraft without the velocity to reach orbit.
Glory was launched on a three-year mission to analyse how airborne particles affect Earth’s climate. Besides monitoring particles in the atmosphere, it was also due to track solar radiation to determine the sun’s effect on climate change.
NASA said it looked like the rocket had plunged into the Pacific Ocean after the failed launch.
