NASA named six people to a mishap investigation board to probe causes of the Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO) disaster, in which the carbon-dioxide-tracking satellite was lost as it plunged into the Ocean near Antarctica.

OCO was launched Feb. 24 from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., atop a Taurus XL rocket provided by Orbital Sciences Corp. [ORB], which also built the satellite.

Preliminary indications are that a nosecone fairing protecting the satellite failed to separate, and its weight caused the Taurus to fail in attempting to achieve orbital velocity.

These are the board members:

• Rick Obenschain, deputy director at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., who will lead the board
• Jose Caraballo, safety manager at Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va.
• Patricia Jones, acting chief of the Human Systems Integration Division in the Exploration Technology Directorate at Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, Calif.
• Richard Lynch, Aerospace Systems Engineering, Goddard Space Flight Center
• Dave Sollberger, deputy chief engineer of the Launch Services Program at Kennedy Space Center in Florida
• Ruth Jones, safety and mission assurance manager at Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. She will be an ex officio board member to assure that board activity conforms to NASA procedural requirements.

The board began its investigation March 3. The members will gather information, analyze the facts, and identify the failure’s cause or causes and contributing factors. The board will make recommendations for actions to prevent a similar incident.