Once is happenstance, twice is a coincidence.
NASA science satellite lost in $424 million launch failure
Whoops, splash one more half-billion dollar piece of hardware.
Quote:
NASA's Glory atmospheric research mission satellite crashed into the southern Pacific Ocean early today after a protective nose cone fairing failed to separate during launch aboard an Orbital Sciences Corp. Taurus XL rocket. The $424 million failure was the second in a row for the Orbital Sciences booster following the 2009 loss of another environmental satellite due to a similar nose cone malfunction.
Skipping down a bit to get info on the satellite's intended mission:
The 1,200-pound solar-powered Glory spacecraft, also built by Orbital Sciences, was designed to precisely measure how much solar energy enters and leaves Earth's atmosphere and how small particles called aerosols, both manmade and natural, affect the global environment.
And the previous loss, two years ago...
This was the second failure in a row for a Taurus XL rocket. NASA's $273 million Orbiting Carbon Observatory was lost during launch Feb. 24, 2009, when it suffered a similar nose cone fairing failure. Orbital Sciences redesigned the system in the wake of that failure, replacing a hot-gas pressurization system with more robust nitrogen system borrowed from the company's Minotaur rockets.
And the mission of the Orbiting Carbon Observatory?
The Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO) was a NASA Earth System Science Pathfinder Project (ESSP) mission designed to make precise, time-dependent global measurements of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) from an Earth orbiting satellite. Unfortunately, on February 24, 2009, OCO failed to reach orbit.
Either one of these satellites could have made a significant contribution to answering questions about the causes of global warming. The OCO would have given precise levels of CO2 that could be used to confirm predictions of man-made warming...or to further crack the theory if in fact the observations showed little correlation.
Taurus could have given us a better understanding of how much impact solar energy has on global warming...whether the amount of solar radiation is enough or too little to account for temperature changes.
OCO would have established a benchmark, Taurus would have helped confirm it.
It would be terribly unfortunate for the cause of anthropogenic global warming (AGO) if the OCO and Taurus numbers had come back saying that no, it's not man-caused. All of the government bureaucracies, international agencies, research funding grants, carbon tax schemes, yearly UN juntas, environmental group fundraising, wealth redistribution, and so much more would come to a screeching halt. There's big big money in the religion of AGO, and for all we know these two satellites could have been like automated heretics beeping away from orbit.
And in an authoritative religion, heretics must die.
How far would some be willing to go to ensure that the religion survives? Intentionally insert a design flaw into a rocket? Would that really be so difficult? And although we can still call that thought unlikely, we can't call it impossible. Consider that if AGO were proved to be false, those with the most to lose would also be the ones currently with the resources and access necessary to sabotage a government-launched rocket.
OCO-2 is currently scheduled for launch in 2013. If it splashes also...well, three times is enemy action.
Whoops, splash one more half-billion dollar piece of hardware.
Quote:
NASA's Glory atmospheric research mission satellite crashed into the southern Pacific Ocean early today after a protective nose cone fairing failed to separate during launch aboard an Orbital Sciences Corp. Taurus XL rocket. The $424 million failure was the second in a row for the Orbital Sciences booster following the 2009 loss of another environmental satellite due to a similar nose cone malfunction.
Skipping down a bit to get info on the satellite's intended mission:
The 1,200-pound solar-powered Glory spacecraft, also built by Orbital Sciences, was designed to precisely measure how much solar energy enters and leaves Earth's atmosphere and how small particles called aerosols, both manmade and natural, affect the global environment.
And the previous loss, two years ago...
This was the second failure in a row for a Taurus XL rocket. NASA's $273 million Orbiting Carbon Observatory was lost during launch Feb. 24, 2009, when it suffered a similar nose cone fairing failure. Orbital Sciences redesigned the system in the wake of that failure, replacing a hot-gas pressurization system with more robust nitrogen system borrowed from the company's Minotaur rockets.
And the mission of the Orbiting Carbon Observatory?
The Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO) was a NASA Earth System Science Pathfinder Project (ESSP) mission designed to make precise, time-dependent global measurements of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) from an Earth orbiting satellite. Unfortunately, on February 24, 2009, OCO failed to reach orbit.
Either one of these satellites could have made a significant contribution to answering questions about the causes of global warming. The OCO would have given precise levels of CO2 that could be used to confirm predictions of man-made warming...or to further crack the theory if in fact the observations showed little correlation.
Taurus could have given us a better understanding of how much impact solar energy has on global warming...whether the amount of solar radiation is enough or too little to account for temperature changes.
OCO would have established a benchmark, Taurus would have helped confirm it.
It would be terribly unfortunate for the cause of anthropogenic global warming (AGO) if the OCO and Taurus numbers had come back saying that no, it's not man-caused. All of the government bureaucracies, international agencies, research funding grants, carbon tax schemes, yearly UN juntas, environmental group fundraising, wealth redistribution, and so much more would come to a screeching halt. There's big big money in the religion of AGO, and for all we know these two satellites could have been like automated heretics beeping away from orbit.
And in an authoritative religion, heretics must die.
How far would some be willing to go to ensure that the religion survives? Intentionally insert a design flaw into a rocket? Would that really be so difficult? And although we can still call that thought unlikely, we can't call it impossible. Consider that if AGO were proved to be false, those with the most to lose would also be the ones currently with the resources and access necessary to sabotage a government-launched rocket.
OCO-2 is currently scheduled for launch in 2013. If it splashes also...well, three times is enemy action.