This is a disaster, the OCO would have gone a long way in capturing the data that would allow us to more accurately measure the correlation of emissions and global temperatures in real time. I think it’s important to note that the data might have actually revealed that temperatures do not correlate well to emissions and so theoretically Cheney and his cronies might have actually been vindicated by the results (perhaps until better temperature time-series become available). Anyway, this is a tragedy.

It is not Global WARMING, It’s Global CLIMATE CHANGE. In some places, the average temperature has fallen, but in most places, the average temperature has risen(which is probably why we get that idea). It is a tradegy that it has crashed because with the information obtained by the satellite, we could predict easier what our general weather is going to be like in the next 50 years.

Jed Clampett

Rather strange… all the failed missions of late. It’s like the quality of American craftsmanship has fallen considerably in the last decade. Millions of dollars wasted and time lost because of one small failing trigger.
Knowing the level of redundancy required in these missions it seems strange that such an important payload such as this one would be left with the vulnerability of a single point of failure.
Then again, nothing seems to surprise these days… we seem to be living in the dog years.
Perhaps someone in a position of leadership and influence didn’t want the mission to succeed, didn’t want us to know just how bad the CO2 problem actually is. Just wait till they realize what releasing all the methane trapped in permafrost is doing to our ecosystem.

Truth, some would rather we are never exposed to it.

Thawing Wooly Mammoth dung has me up at night.