NASA Announces Mishap Board Members for OCO Investigation
NASA has selected the members of the board that will 
investigate the unsuccessful launch of the Orbiting Carbon Observatory on 
Feb. 24.
PASADENA, Calif. – NASA has selected the members of the board that will 
investigate the unsuccessful launch of the Orbiting Carbon Observatory 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 Orbiting Carbon Observatory satellite failed to reach orbit after its 1:55 a.m. PST 
liftoff Feb. 24 from California's Vandenberg Air Force Base.For information about the Orbiting Carbon Observatory failed launch and investigation, 
visit:http://www.nasa.gov/oco.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., has managed the Orbiting Carbon Observatory 
mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. JPL is managed for NASA by the 
California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.