Glory, Glory, Another Major F**kup by NASA

Glory mission has failed for the second time

Glory and the launcher probably ended up in the Southern Pacific Ocean: Launch director

Taxpayers observed in agony and despair as another $500 million dollars of their borrowed money sank in the ocean.

An autistic impression of Glory satellite orbiting Earth. Source: NASA

The Taurus XL rocket’s payload fairing failed to separate about 3  minutes into the launch as planned, making the rocket too heavy to reach the correct orbit.

The launch director said the satellite and the launcher had probably fallen in the Southern Pacific Ocean.

The previous Taurus XL launch of the Orbiting Carbon Observatory also ended in a similar abysmal failure in February 2009 when payload fairing separation failed to occur.

NASA SNAFU: Launch video clip of the failed Taurus XL rocket carrying NASA’s Glory satellite

NASA’s Failed Orbiting Carbon Observatory and its Taurus booster. “The fairing is a clamshell structure that encapsulates the satellite as it travels through the atmosphere.” Source: NASA

Corporate Sabotage, or Sheer Incompetence?

It would be difficult to pin down the second failure on the sheer incompetence of NASA teams involved. It would become increasingly clear however that the Glory failure may have been one giant leap toward “necessitating” the  corporate takeover of yet another national institution [See references concerning Googlification of NOAA on this blog.]