"The spacecraft, MethaneSAT, was just a year into its mission to provide a clearer picture of planet-warming emissions from oil and gas sites."
"Last year, a nonprofit environmental group launched a new satellite to measure methane emissions from oil and gas sites worldwide, in a bid to expand our understanding of global warming and what’s driving it.
The data from the satellite would give governments and the public fresh insight into where this planet-heating gas was coming from and who was responsible for it.
For nearly two weeks, however, the mission’s controllers have been unable to get in contact with the satellite. It has lost power, they said, and most likely cannot be recovered. The cause is being investigated.
In its short time in orbit, the satellite, named MethaneSAT, collected “magnificent” data, said Steven Hamburg, chief scientist at the Environmental Defense Fund, the nonprofit that led the project. He and other researchers will continue processing the measurements it beamed back before its untimely demise."
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