Epic Fail: $400M NASA Rocket Crashes, 'Probably in Ocean'

In a fail of astronomic proportions, NASA has announced that its latest project -- the $424 million Taurus XL rocket and ironically named "Glory" satellite -- has failed to reach orbit and is most likely rocketing all the way to the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.

The observational satellite, launched this morning, was intended to examine the impact of aerosols on Earth's climate. According to NASA, the pricey projectile's nose cone failed to open as expected, and after about three minutes, began to tumble.  Now the entire apparatus "is in the southern Pacific Ocean somewhere."

This isn't the first time one of our satellites has done some unintended deep sea exploration, either. Apparently, pretty much the exact same thing happened to a probe called the Orbiting Carbon Observatory two years ago.

USA! USA!

[ABC, NASA]