“A rocket carrying a NASA satellite crashed near Antarctica after a failed launch, ending a $280 million mission to track global warming from space,” according to an Associated Press story published Feb. 24.

The story went on to say, “The 986-pound satellite was supposed to be placed into a polar orbit some 400 miles high to track carbon dioxide emissions. Scientists currently depend on 282 land-based stations — and scattered instrumented aircraft flights — to monitor carbon dioxide at low altitudes. Measurements collected from the (satellite) mission were expected to improve climate models and help researchers determine where the greenhouse gas originates and how much is being absorbed by forests and oceans.”

The fact that there was a need to launch a rocket to really make sure information about the negatives of CO2 emissions was really correct is yet another instance of “how factual are the facts” concerning climate change upon which the HVACR is assigned part of the blame for using so-called global warming gases and letting them leak into the atmosphere.

But while it is interesting to report of such matters, it doesn’t change the fact that keeping systems leaktight and energy efficient is the best policy for the industry to be on the ‘correct’ side of the environmental debate, and for contractors and technicians to, in the long run, remain profitable and perceived as providing the best comfort cooling or food preservation options to customers.