NASA’s Taurus XL Mission Fails

The Taurus XL rocket, that took off from the Vandenberg Air Force Base ‎failed in its attempt to put a NASA Earth-observation satellite into orbit and ‎the satellite fell into the Pacific Ocean. The cost of the failed mission was ‎‎$424 million.
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This is the second time that the Taurus XL rocket built by Orbital Sciences ‎Corp. of Dulles developed problems. NASA scientists are of the opinion ‎that the failure occurred because the satellite’s protective cover, ‎designed to open like a clamshell, did not function as anticipated.

Scientists working at the Orbital Sciences Corp. were very disappointed at ‎the turn of events and felt very sorry for letting down NASA. Many people ‎had dedicated their lives to make this program a success.
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The purpose of NASA’s Glory satellite was to help scientists to determine ‎the role of the sun and aerosols in shaping Earth’s climate. Aerosols are ‎particles of matter found scattered in the atmosphere. The Glory was also ‎built by Orbital in Virginia.
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The satellite failed to make it into orbit. As per indications available, the ‎satellite and the rocket plunged into the southern Pacific Ocean.‎