Alexandria, VA – On a clear night in March, engineers and researchers gathered in Southern California and tuned into NASA TV to watch the launch of Glory, a potential game-changer in the climate change debate. Glory, a satellite a decade in the making, was designed to deliver critical information about small airborne particles called aerosols. The elusive particles account for much of the uncertainty in climate models, and data from the satellite would have helped scientists determine more of the aerosols' key properties than ever before. Instead, just minutes after launch, the rocket carrying Glory into space failed catastrophically and Glory's remains crashed into the southern Pacific Ocean near Antarctica.
What happened? In "A Day Without Glory" in the September issue, EARTH explores how Glory came to be, what scientists hoped it would show us, and ultimately, how it failed. The loss was heartbreaking.
Read about the failure and whether scientists aim to rebuild the Glory satellite, and read other stories on topics such as how scientists are getting creative in determining past earthquake activity; how scientists are still studying the dust from the Twin Towers' collapse on 9/11 to determine how it might be affecting people's health; and how CAT scans may help us find oil and gas in the September issue. And don't miss the story commemorating the 150th anniversary of the discovery of Archaeopteryx.
These stories and many more can be found in the September issue of EARTH, now available digitally or in print on your local newsstands.
For further information on the September featured article, go to http://www.earthmagazine.org/earth/article/470-7db-8-13
Keep up to date with the latest happenings in earth, energy and environment news with EARTH magazine, available on local newsstands or online at http://www.earthmagazine.org/. Published by the American Geological Institute, EARTH is your source for the science behind the headlines.