A second high-profile failure in two days has helped make a bona-fide rough week for NASA. The U.S. space agency’s Glory atmospheric research mission satellite crashed into the Pacific Ocean Friday, one day after a faulty o-ring caused a space suit leak on board the Shuttle Discovery. A so-called “nose cone fairing” that protects the enclosed satellite “did not separate as expected about three minutes after launch,” said NASA spokesperson Steve Cole. The failed fairing brought down the Orbital Sciences Taurus XL rocket, causing a $424 million loss.
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Pesky Nose-Cone Problem Downs NASA's Glory Satellite
Posted by: Mike Martin March 4, 2011 02:17 PMA second high-profile failure in two days has helped make a bona-fide rough week for NASA. The U.S. space agency’s Glory atmospheric research mission satellite crashed into the Pacific Ocean Friday, one day after a faulty o-ring caused a space suit leak on board the Shuttle Discovery. A so-called “nose cone fairing” that protects the enclosed satellite “did not separate as expected about three minutes after launch,” said NASA spokesperson Steve Cole. The failed fairing brought down the Orbital Sciences Taurus XL rocket, causing a $424 million loss.