NASA Releases Glory Taurus XL Launch Failure Report Summary

Feb. 20, 2013

Joshua Buck
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
jbuck@nasa.gov

RELEASE: 13-050

NASA RELEASES GLORY TAURUS XL LAUNCH FAILURE REPORT SUMMARY

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


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