![Garver Freilich & Maring At Vandenberg](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/83/Garver_Freilich_%26_Maring_At_Vandenberg.jpg)
The Glory satellite was a planned
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research.
NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...
satellite mission that would have collected data on the chemical, micro-physical and optical properties—and the spatial and temporal distributions—of
sulfate
The sulfate or sulphate ion is a polyatomic anion with the empirical formula . Salts, acid derivatives, and peroxides of sulfate are widely used in industry. Sulfates occur widely in everyday life. Sulfates are salts of sulfuric acid and many ar ...
and other
aerosol
An aerosol is a suspension (chemistry), suspension of fine solid particles or liquid Drop (liquid), droplets in air or another gas. Aerosols can be natural or Human impact on the environment, anthropogenic. Examples of natural aerosols are fog o ...
s, and would have collected
solar irradiance
Solar irradiance is the power per unit area (surface power density) received from the Sun in the form of electromagnetic radiation in the wavelength range of the measuring instrument.
Solar irradiance is measured in watts per square metre (W/ ...
data for the long-term climate record. The science focus areas served by Glory included: atmospheric composition;
carbon cycle
The carbon cycle is the biogeochemical cycle by which carbon is exchanged among the biosphere, pedosphere, geosphere, hydrosphere, and Earth's atmosphere, atmosphere of the Earth. Carbon is the main component of biological compounds as well as ...
, ecosystems, and biogeochemistry; climate variability and change; and water and energy cycles. The US$424 million satellite was lost on 4 March 2011, when its
Taurus XL carrier rocket malfunctioned. A subsequent investigation revealed that the
fairing system failed to open fully, causing the satellite to reenter the atmosphere at which point it likely broke up and burned. NASA investigators later determined the cause for the launch failure to be faulty materials provided by aluminum manufacturer
Sapa Profiles
Hydro Extruded Solutions is a manufacturer of extruded aluminium profiles. Norsk Hydro announced in July 2017 that it would take full ownership of the 50/50 joint venture Sapa AS by buying the remaining 50 percent stake from conglomerate Orkla G ...
.
Spacecraft
The Glory spacecraft bus uses Orbital Science Corporation's LEOStar bus design, with twin articulated deployable solar panels, 3-axis stabilization, and X-band and S-band RF communications capabilities. The structure consists of an octagonal aluminium space frame and a hydrazine propulsion module containing enough fuel for at least 36 months of on-orbit service. The spacecraft bus also provides payload power; command, telemetry, and science data interfaces, including onboard storage of data; and an attitude control subsystem to support instrument pointing requirements.
[https://www.nasa.gov/pdf/505386main_GLORY%20508%20newsletter.pdf - June 2010 - 25 February 2020]
Launch
The launch from
Vandenberg Air Force Base Vandenberg may refer to:
* Vandenberg (surname), including a list of people with the name
* USS General Harry Taylor (AP-145), USNS ''General Hoyt S. Vandenberg'' (T-AGM-10), transport ship in the United States Navy, sank as an artificial reef in K ...
, near
Lompoc, California
Lompoc ( ; Chumash: ''Lum Poc'') is a city in Santa Barbara County, California. Located on the Central Coast, Lompoc has a population of 43,834 as of July 2021.
Lompoc has been inhabited for thousands of years by the Chumash people, who called ...
, aboard a
Taurus XL rocket was originally planned for 23 February 2011. It was postponed due to a malfunction in ground support equipment. The next
liftoff
Liftoff, lift-off, or lift off may refer to:
Technology
* Lift-off (microtechnology), a fabrication technique
* Flame lift-off, a separation of flame from burner device
* Takeoff, the first moment of flight of an aerospace vehicle
* Reduction o ...
attempt was 4 March 2011. The Taurus rocket also carried three small
CubeSat
A CubeSat is a class of miniaturized satellite based around a form factor consisting of cubes. CubeSats have a mass of no more than per unit, and often use commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components for their electronics and structure. CubeSats ...
satellites built by university students in Montana, Colorado and Kentucky, the
NASA ELaNa I manifest.
The launch took place on 4 March 2011, at 02:09:43
Pacific Standard Time
The Pacific Time Zone (PT) is a time zone encompassing parts of western Canada, the western United States, and western Mexico. Places in this zone observe standard time by subtracting eight hours from Coordinated Universal Time (UTC−08:00). ...
(10:09:43 UTC) from
Vandenberg Air Force Base Vandenberg may refer to:
* Vandenberg (surname), including a list of people with the name
* USS General Harry Taylor (AP-145), USNS ''General Hoyt S. Vandenberg'' (T-AGM-10), transport ship in the United States Navy, sank as an artificial reef in K ...
. The Taurus XL rocket's first three stages functioned as planned, but the nose cone (also known as the
payload fairing
A payload fairing is a nose cone used to protect a spacecraft payload against the impact of dynamic pressure and aerodynamic heating during launch through an atmosphere. An additional function on some flights is to maintain the cleanroom environm ...
) failed to separate 2 minutes 58 seconds after the launch. The nose cone covers and protects the satellite during launch and ascent, and is designed to separate and fall away shortly after the launch. Due to the failure of the nose cone to separate, the rocket remained too heavy to reach the correct orbit. According to launch director Omar Baez, the satellite and launcher likely crashed in the
southern Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...
. The failure was estimated to have cost at least $424 million.
This only includes the cost of the satellite itself, and not the cost of the launcher and launch services. During the previous failed Taurus XL launch, the vehicle and services were estimated to have cost $54 million.
[NASA FY2009 Budget Estimates](_blank)
/ref>
The previous Taurus XL launch with the Orbiting Carbon Observatory
The Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO) is a NASA satellite mission intended to provide global space-based observations of atmospheric carbon dioxide (). The original spacecraft was lost in a launch failure on 24 February 2009, when the payload f ...
(OCO) in February 2009 also ended in a failure due to failed payload fairing separation. Following the failed OCO mission, Taurus XL launches were put on hold for two years as the rocket's manufacturer Orbital Sciences Corporation
Orbital Sciences Corporation (commonly referred to as Orbital) was an American company specializing in the design, manufacture, and launch of small- and medium- class space and launch vehicle systems for commercial, military and other governmen ...
tried to fix the payload fairing separation problem, obviously without success. A British OCO scientist said the loss of Glory was a great blow to the NASA Earth science program, especially since the reason for the launch failure was the same as with OCO.
During a news conference shortly after the launch, Rich Straka from Orbital Sciences Corporation said his company was investigating the failure, noting, "there really isn't enough data to say anything more than the fairing didn't separate."
Scientific instruments
NASA Investigation
In 2019 it was announced that NASA Launch Services Program
The NASA Launch Services Program (LSP) is responsible for procurement of launch services for NASA uncrewed missions and oversight of launch integration and launch preparation activity, providing added quality and mission assurance to meet program ...
(LSP) investigators have determined the technical root cause for the Taurus XL launch failures of NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO) and Glory missions in 2009 and 2011, respectively: faulty materials provided by aluminium manufacturer, Sapa Profiles
Hydro Extruded Solutions is a manufacturer of extruded aluminium profiles. Norsk Hydro announced in July 2017 that it would take full ownership of the 50/50 joint venture Sapa AS by buying the remaining 50 percent stake from conglomerate Orkla G ...
, Inc. (SPI). LSP's technical investigation led to the involvement of NASA's Office of the Inspector General and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). The efforts of the DOJ, recently made public, resulted in the resolution of criminal charges and alleged civil claims against SPI, and its agreement to pay US$46 million to the U.S. government and other commercial customers. This relates to a 19-year scheme that included falsifying thousands of certifications for aluminium extrusions to hundreds of customers.
On 24 February 2009, a Taurus XL rocket (Taurus T8) carrying NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO) satellite failed to reach orbit. The Taurus T8 mission failed because the payload fairing did not separate during ascent, causing the rocket to not shed weight. As a result of the extra weight, the Taurus rocket failed to reach orbital velocity, resulting in a total loss of the mission. On 4 March 2011, another Taurus rocket (Taurus T9) carrying NASA's Glory scientific satellite failed to reach orbit. The Taurus T9 mission also concluded in a failure of the payload fairing to separate. The Taurus T8 and T9 missions both reentered earth's atmosphere resulting in break-up and/or burnup of the rocket and satellite, and any surviving pieces would have been dispersed in the Pacific Ocean near Antarctica. The combined cost of both mission failures was in excess of $700 million. This document's purpose is to provide a top-level outline of NASA's updated findings pertaining to the cause of both mishaps.
The Taurus T8 and T9 rockets both used 63-inch diameter payload fairings to cover and protect the spacecraft during ground operations and launch. The payload fairing halves are structurally joined and attached to the rocket using frangible joints. A frangible joint is a structural separation system that is initiated using ordnance. Initiation of the ordnance causes the ligament of the frangible joint extrusion to fracture, allowing the two payload fairing halves to be separated and subsequently jettisoned from the Taurus rocket. The frangible joints for T8 and T9 were made and assembled together, at the same time. The T8 and T9 frangible joint extrusions were manufactured by Sapa Profiles, Inc. (SPI) in its Technical Dynamics Aluminum (TDA) plant, in Portland, Oregon.[https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/oco_glory_public_summary_update_-_for_the_web_-_04302019.pdf - 30 April 2019 - 25 February 2020]
References
External links
Official Site
Glory.gsfc.nasa.gov Official Site
(archived)
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Glory (Satellite)
NASA satellites
Satellite launch failures
Spacecraft launched in 2011