Launch News (FAILURE) Glory atop Taurus XL on Mar. 4, 2011

[Orbinaut Pete]

Aww man, this is all NASA needs right now.

So, that's GLORY and OCO both lost to Tauruses, back-to-back.

What's scary is that these guys (Orbital) are supposed to be resupplying the ISS by the end of this year! :uhh:

 

[tblaxland]

Aww man, this is all NASA needs right now.

It's worse for Orbital's reputation at this point.

Does NASA take out insurance these payloads or does the government just wear the risk (or self insure)?

 

[orb]

• Replay of the launch:
  

  Replay of the launch

• Glory/Taurus XL: Contingency News Conference:
  

  Glory/Taurus XL: Contingency News Conference

NASASpaceflight: FAILURE: Orbital Taurus rocket fails NASA’s Glory spacecraft

Spaceflight Now: NASA science satellite lost in Taurus launch failure

CBS News Space: NASA's Glory satellite lost in $424 million launch failure

SPACE.com: Rocket Carrying New NASA Climate Satellite Likely Crashed Into Pacific Ocean

Space News: NASA's Glory Satellite Lost in Taurus Return to Flight Mission

Florida Today - The Flame Trench: NASA's Glory satellite failed to reach orbit

BBC News: Nasa Glory mission ends in failure

CNN: Rocket fails to reach orbit; likely crashes into ocean

 

[statickid]

i think the most annoying part is the public response, which can be sampled at the base of the cnn page, or, I'm sure, any where this story is located that can be commented on. :dry:

 

[Urwumpe]

i think the most annoying part is the public response, which can be sampled at the base of the cnn page, or, I'm sure, any where this story is located that can be commented on. :dry:

Is that a surprise?

you can't get around appreciating the wisdom of Dieter Nuhr..."if you have no clue, just shut up." That should be said to anybody there who comments on spaceflight, but who is at the same time stupid enough to mix Diesel fuel with gasoline on a modern turbodiesel engine.

 

[tori]

Does anyone here know the ApD and PeD it ultimately reached? Would a DG rescue flight from KSC had been possible some three hours after the launch?

 

[N_Molson]

No, it was suborbital. And rescuing such a small payload with a DG would be like hunting a fly with a bazooka

 

[statickid]

i think it would be pretty easy to kill a fly with a bazooka, flys are, after all, quite fragile little creatures

 

[orb]

NASA:
RELEASE : 13-050
NASA Releases Glory Taurus XL Launch Failure Report Summary

Feb. 20, 2013

WASHINGTON -- NASA has released a summary report on findings from a panel that investigated the unsuccessful 2011 launch of the agency's Glory spacecraft.

The satellite, designed to improve our understanding of Earth's climate, was lost March 4, 2011, when it failed to reach orbit after launch aboard an Orbital Sciences Corp. Taurus XL rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

A mishap investigation board led by Bradley C. Flick, director of the Research and Engineering Directorate at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center in Edwards, Calif., determined the Taurus launch vehicle's fairing system failed to open fully and caused the mishap. The fairing is a clamshell nosecone that encapsulates the satellite as it travels through the atmosphere.

The mishap investigation board was not able to identify the definitive cause for the fairing system failure, but it did recommend ways to prevent future problems associated with the joint system that makes up the fairing. NASA and Orbital are continuing to investigate the fairing system.

The summary report provides an overview of the mishap investigation board's findings. The board's complete report is not available for public release because it contains information restricted by U.S. International Traffic in Arms Regulations and information proprietary to the companies involved. The summary is available at:

http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/728836main_T9_MIB_Public_Release_Summary.pdf​

NASA: NASA Releases Glory Taurus XL Launch Failure Report Summary

Universe Today: No Glory: NASA Releases Findings from Taurus XL Rocket Failure

AmericaSpace: Failure Summary Report on Glory Mission Released by NASA

Phys.org: Report: Failure of Glory climate satellite unknown

 

[boogabooga]

So this is making the rounds on social media:

https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/...c_summary_update_-_for_the_web_-_04302019.pdf

NASA OIG discovered that SPI, the extrusion supplier to Orbital (the manufacturer of the Taurus XL launch vehicle and now known as Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems (NGIS), had altered extrusion material property test results from failing to passing, and had falsely provided material property certifications stating the extruded material met Orbital specification requirements.

TL;DR the mission failed because of fraud on part of a contractor.