NASA has launched an investigation into the recent crash of its satellite that was supposed to monitor the carbon dioxide levels on Earth with a greater accuracy.

The NASA satellite called the Orbiting Carbon Observatory was launched on the back of a Taurus XL rocket built by Dulles-based Orbital Sciences Corp, the company that also built the satellite. Unfortunately, the satellite failed to make it into Earth’s orbit and crashed into the Antarctic Ocean approximately three minutes after taking off from Vandenberg Air Force Base in central California.

NASA has already picked the man who will head the investigation: Rick Obenschain, deputy director at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. The space agency announced its pick on Wednesday, just one day after the crash occurred.

The apparent cause of the crash was the fact that the protective nose cone (a clamshell structure that encapsulates the satellite as it travels through the atmosphere) failed to separate from the satellite. The rocket failed to reach Earth’s atmosphere because of the extra weight and fell back into the Arctic Ocean.

"Preliminary indications are that the fairing on the Taurus XL launch vehicle failed to separate," NASA wrote on its Website.

The crash of the Orbiting Carbon Observatory came as a huge blow to the scientific community. Preparations for this mission took nine years and the satellite would have done its job for the next two years after making it on Earth’s orbit.

The mission cost NASA $280-million. The 986-pound satellite would have been positioned about 400 miles above Earth and it would have been very helpful for a better understanding and evaluation of the process of global warming especially by pinpointing the areas where the biggest gas buildups are.