THE US's first attempt to map atmospheric CO2 had come to an ignominious end, NASA admitted yesterday, when the rocket carrying the Orbiting Carbon Observatory crashed into the Pacific after failing to reach orbit.
The spacecraft intended to help fight global warming was carrying a highly toxic fuel, hydrazine, but NASA insisted the fuel had been burnt before it could have poisoned the pristine ocean near Antarctica, The Times reports.
Having worked on the $US278 million ($427 million) observatory for almost a decade, scientists were devastated.
John Brunschwyler, one of the mission's leaders, said: "The initial indications show the vehicle did not have enough lift to reach orbit, and landed short of Antarctica in the ocean. Our whole team at a very personal level are disappointed. We are very upset with the results."
The observatory, manufactured by the Orbital Sciences Corporation and hitched to an unmanned Taurus XL rocket, blasted off from the Vandenberg Air Force Base in Lompoc, California, at 9.55am.
The plan was for it to orbit the Earth about 600km above the poles, using a telescope and three parallel high-resolution spectrometers to measure concentrations of carbon dioxide and the molecular oxygen absorption of sunlight.
NASA wanted to study how carbon dioxide cycles through the planet's atmosphere.
An investigation board was convened to determine the cause of the accident.
NASA flight director Chuck Dovale said all the evidence suggested that every stage of the rocket burnt up during the ascent, meaning there was no environmental threat from the hydrazine fuel.
