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NASA ANNOUNCES MISHAP BOARD MEMBERS FOR OCO INVESTIGATION - 03.03.2009

Katherine Trinidad
Headquarters, Washington March 3, 2009
202-358-1100
katherine.trinidad@nasa.gov

RELEASE: 09-47

NASA ANNOUNCES MISHAP BOARD MEMBERS FOR OCO INVESTIGATION

WASHINGTON -- NASA has selected the members of the board that will investigate the unsuccessful launch of the Orbiting Carbon Observatory, or OCO, on Feb. 24. Rick Obenschain, deputy director at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., will lead the mishap investigation board.

The board consists of four other voting members:
-- Jose Caraballo, safety manager at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va.
-- Patricia Jones, acting chief of the Human Systems Integration Division in the Exploration Technology Directorate at NASA's Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, Calif.
-- Richard Lynch, Aerospace Systems Engineering, Goddard Space Flight Center
-- Dave Sollberger, deputy chief engineer of the NASA Launch Services Program at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The ex officio member is Ruth Jones, Safety and Mission Assurance manager at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. The ex officio member assures 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.

The OCO satellite failed to reach orbit after its 4:55 a.m. EST liftoff Feb. 24 from California’s Vandenberg Air Force Base.

For information about the OCO failed launch and investigation, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/oco

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