OCO Fails

NASA's OCO satellite, designed to measure the role of manmade carbon emissions in global warming, failed to reach orbit early Tuesday morning.

The shroud that protects the satellite during the short flight through the atmosphere is supposed to separate from the craft as the rocket pushes on to orbit. This time, the shroud didn't separate, and its added weight kept the rocket from reaching orbit. After a promising launch from California, headed for a near-polar orbit, the rocket crashed into the ocean just shy of Antarctica.