NASA officials announced that the United States government’s first attempt to map carbon dioxide in Earth's atmosphere from space was brought to an end Tuesday because of a botched satellite launch from California.

The Orbiting Carbon Observatory, which cost $278 million, was launched aboard an unmanned Taurus rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base at 4:55 a.m. and was due to arrive approximately 400 miles above the poles.

Nevertheless, only three minutes after it blasted off, the 986-pound spacecraft, which was protected by a clamshell-like shroud, did not separate from the cover and put an end to the mission.

John Brunschwyler, the Taurus program manager with manufacturer Orbital Sciences Corporation, stated that because of the extra weight the Orbiting Carbon Observatory had been carrying, the satellite had not manged to get into orbit.

Consequently, the spacecraft, built by Orbital Sciences, plummeted back to Earth and landed into the southern Pacific Ocean near Antarctica.

The mission to map carbon dioxide in Earth’s atmosphere accounted for NASA’s first aboard a Taurus rocket, which was kicked off back in 1944 and has had six successful flights and one failed one.

Even though the rocket was carrying hydrazine fuel, NASA officials said that neither parts of the rocket nor the satellite represented a threat to people.

NASA launch director Chuck Dovale stated that the mission having ended untimely was a major disappointment for the science community, officials having added that an investigation board had been assigned to determine what had caused the accident.