Future prospects - Ice Ages and Interglacials: Measurements, Interpretation, and Models - page 366

Orbiting Carbon Observatory The Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO) is a
new Earth-orbiting mission. The OCO mission was designed to collect precise global
measurements of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) in the Earth's atmosphere which, it is hoped,
will improve our understanding of the natural processes and human activities that
regulate the abundance and distribution of this important greenhouse gas. This
improved understanding will hopefully enable more reliable forecasts of future
changes in the abundance and distribution of CO 2 in the atmosphere and the
effect that these changes may have on the Earth's climate. Unfortunately, the
launch vehicle for the OCO failed and the observatory fell into the ocean. This
was followed by a similar failure in the launch of the Glory satellite which was
supposed to monitor aerosols and the Sun. The Delta II launch vehicle has a long
history of success, but it was retired in favor of the Orbital Sciences launch vehicle,
which has now failed twice in a row.