WEBVTT

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Music.

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How do we forecast the weather for a Shuttle 
launch?

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After the Shuttle is rolled out to the 
launch pad about a month and a half before 
launch,

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our team at the 45th Weather Squadron 
provides daily weather support 24 hours 
a day, 7 days a week.  During this time,

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we also keep a careful eye on the tropics 
to ensure the vehicle is safe from a 
tropical storm or hurricane.

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The last week prior to launch, several 
types of forecasts are provided to the 
Shuttle team such as the Solid Rocket Booster

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recovery forecasts and forecasts to the 
Ice Team so they know what kind of ice 
buildup to expect on the external tank.

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About 14 hours before launch, we give 
the forecast for the Rotating Service 
Structure retract operation.

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This is when the protective covering is 
moved away from the orbiter in preparation 
for launch.

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10 hours before launch, the Mission 
Management Team receives a forecast for 
the fueling and launch operations.

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Once the fueling operations begin, things 
really pick up as we begin evaluating launch 
commit criteria.

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That's a set of weather rules we cannot 
break before a launch.

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We monitor the criteria and evaluate them 
as Red if the criteria are violated.  Green 
means everything looks good!

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We evaluate the weather using sophisticated 
equipment, like weather balloons, which
 provide us with winds, temperature,

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and relative humidity through the atmosphere.

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This detailed information is also used to 
calculate aerodynamic loads on the Shuttle 
during launch.

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Other weather evaluation equipment includes 
Doppler radar wind profilers, a network of 
over 40 wind towers across

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Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Air 
Force Station, and two weather radars. 
We have three lightning detection systems,

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including one that detects in-cloud 
lightning, a step up from the traditional 
cloud to ground lightning detection systems.

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We also have a network of 35 Field Mills 
which detect the electrostatic potential of 
the atmosphere in the area around the

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launch pad to help us determine if 
conditions are ripe for triggering a 
lightning strike.

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Finally, during the countdown NASA flies a 
T-38 and a Shuttle Training Aircraft to

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determine weather conditions near the launch
 pad and the Shuttle Landing Facility.

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Throughout the countdown, weather updates 
are provided to the 
Shuttle Launch Director at

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Kennedy Space Center, including weather for 
the time that the crew travels from crew 
quarters to the launch pad!

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During the Shuttle Launch Director's final 
poll at T-9 minutes, I inform the launch 
director if we have any weather constraints for launch.

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"Weather has no constraints for launch." 
"Thank you very much, Kathy."

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If all goes well, the Launch Director gives
 a GO for launch, and the space shuttle 
begins its journey into space.

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And that's how we forecast the weather for 
a Shuttle launch.

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Music.