Kathy Winters is an Air Force Civilian Meteorologist at the 45th Weather Squadron at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. She is the Space Shuttle Launch Weather Officer providing weather support to the Space Shuttle Program at Kennedy Space Center as the Launch Team prepares for the 29 April 2011 launch of Endeavour. You can find out more about the 45th Space Wing at their Facebook page.

Katherine Winters on the Weather Console

We are getting ready for launch again. The NASA team replaced and re-tested the Load Control Assembly-2 in the aft section of the vehicle, and we are back in the 3-day countdown. Today we issued the launch forecast, Ice Team Forecast, Solid Rocket Booster Recovery forecast, and I briefed weather to the Launch Director and at the Countdown Status press conference. Like I mentioned before, this is like a “do-over.” We have the same forecasts to accomplish during the days prior to launch. Since this is now a morning launch (8:56 AM Eastern Daylight Savings Time), the schedule shifts a bit, and we actually started issuing launch forecasts on Thursday, L-4 days before launch rather than L-3 days. We will basically be working a night shift for launch, but our Launch Weather Team has required crew rest rules to ensure everyone is sharp for their launch shift.

Space Shuttle Endeavour sits poised for launch from complex 39A, Kennedy Space Center (Photo courtesy KSC Public Affairs)

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Kathy Winters is an Air Force Civilian Meteorologist at the 45th Weather Squadron at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. She is the Space Shuttle Launch Weather Officer providing weather support to the Space Shuttle Program at Kennedy Space Center as the Launch Team prepares for the 29 April 2011 launch of Endeavour. You can find out more about the 45th Space Wing at their Facebook page.

Thursday evening, 28 April. The night before the first launch attempt, we had some significant weather roll through the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) area. Evening thunderstorms with damaging winds and the threat of hail delayed the Rotating Service Structure retract operation by several hours. Titusville, just west of KSC, had 1.75 inch hail, and North KSC had a wind gust of 57 knots. Luckily, hail and severe wind did not occur at the launch pad, and the lightning in the area was not close enough to drive any walk-downs or retests. The Shuttle team was able to press on to launch Friday, 29 April.

Severe weather begins to roll over NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on the night launch teams planned to move the rotating service structure (RSS) away from space shuttle Endeavour on Launch Pad 39A. The structure provides weather protection and access to the shuttle while it awaits lift off on the pad. RSS "rollback," as it's called, was delayed by nearly five hours to allow the storms to move offshore. (Photo by Kennedy Space Center Public Affairs)

Friday, 29 April, during our first launch attempt, we battled some weather in the morning. At one point, as the cold front moved through in the morning, we were RED for seven of our Weather Launch Commit Criteria (LCC) (PDF). We had a thunderstorm develop southwest of the launch pad and pass to the south of Endeavour by about 6 miles. When a thunderstorm passes nearby a launch pad, it’s typical for us to be RED on several LCC. We went back to GREEN on most of our rules before 1000L, and by launch time, launch weather was GREEN. Also by launch time, the Spaceflight Meteorology Group was observed and forecast GO for the Return to Launch Site abort weather at the Shuttle Landing Facility and at one of the Transoceanic Abort Landing sites (TAL) weather sites. Unfortunately, during the countdown the Shuttle developed a technical problem, and the launch was scrubbed. (more…)

Kathy Winters is an Air Force Civilian Meteorologist at the 45th Weather Squadron at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. She is the Space Shuttle Launch Weather Officer providing weather support to the Space Shuttle Program at Kennedy Space Center as the Launch Team prepares for the 29 April 2011 launch of Endeavour. You can find out more about the 45th Space Wing at their Facebook page.

Wednesday was a busy day. The day started with issuing the Ice Team Forecast update and the L-2 Day launch forecast. Then I briefed weather at the L-2 day Shuttle Mission Management Team (MMT) meeting. Following the MMT meeting, it was off to the press site for a press conference with Mike Moses, the Launch Integration Manager, and Mike Leinbach, the Launch Director. I am always surprised I get invited to this press briefing, but since weather causes approximately 50% of launch scrubs, NASA public affairs asks me to brief the weather and be available for any questions.

Fire at Kennedy Space Center, approximately three nautical miles from the Shuttle launch pad (Photo by Kathy Winters)

After the press briefing Wednesday, I saw this fire at Kennedy Space Center about 3 nautical miles from the Shuttle launch pad. When fires like this occur, the 45th Weather Squadron gets calls from Kennedy Space Center personnel for current and forecast weather information, particularly wind speed and direction, so actions can be taken to protect personnel and resources. Also, cumulus clouds formed above the fire which had our launch team thinking about our smoke plume rule in the lightning launch commit criteria.  On launch day, if a cumulus cloud formed from a fire and moved into the path of the launch, weather would be RED for the Smoke Plume rule until 60 minutes after the cloud detached from the smoke plume. As you can imagine, sometimes it can be difficult to tell when a cumulus cloud detaches from the smoke plume, and unless we are clearly convinced a lightning launch commit criteria (PDF) is not violated, weather is RED for launch. (more…)

Kathy Winters is an Air Force Civilian Meteorologist at the 45th Weather Squadron at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. She is the Space Shuttle Launch Weather Officer providing weather support to the Space Shuttle Program at Kennedy Space Center as the Launch Team prepares for the 29 April 2011 launch of Endeavour. You can find out more about the 45th Space Wing at their Facebook page.

Cumulus Clouds Near Vehicle Assembly Building (Photo by Kathy Winters)

I took a picture of this cumulus cloud from the press site on Tuesday morning after the countdown status briefing. Clouds like this formed along the sea breeze due to our moist atmosphere. Although these clouds are normally harmless, on launch day the 45th Weather Squadron Launch Weather Team actually pays close attention to the height of any cumulus clouds like these that develop within 10 nautical miles of the launch pad. If a cumulus cloud gets tall enough, it may violate our cumulus cloud rule, one of the many rules in our Launch Commit Criteria (PDF). The purpose of the cumulus cloud rule is to prevent the threat of triggering a lightning strike when launching into elevated electric fields in the atmosphere. Fortunately, we do not expect significant cumulus clouds to be in the area this Friday.

Did you know a rocket can trigger a lightning strike when there is no natural lightning occurring? The Lightning Launch Commit Criteria protect the Shuttle and other rockets from the threat of triggered lightning. See how scientists at the University of Florida study triggered lightning by launching rockets into elevated electrical fields. (more…)

Kathy Winters is an Air Force Civilian Meteorologist at the 45th Weather Squadron at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. She is the Space Shuttle Launch Weather Officer providing weather support to the Space Shuttle Program at Kennedy Space Center as the Launch Team prepares for the 29 April 2011 launch of Endeavour. You can find out more about the 45th Space Wing at their Facebook page.

Katherine Winters on the Weather Console

It’s launch week and the 45th Weather Squadron is ready! Not only is our team here at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station ready to go, but so are our 45th Weather Squadron team members overseas. Our personnel at the Trans-oceanic Abort Landing sites release weather balloons and take surface weather observations. They provide the data from these observations to the Shuttle Flight team at Johnson Space Center.

Here at the Cape, we issue several forecasts the week of launch including our launch forecast, the Shuttle Ice Team forecast, the solid rocket recovery forecast, and the Rotating Service Structure retract (RSS) forecast. We also continue to issue weather watches, warnings, and advisories so the team at the launch pad is aware of any dangerous weather conditions during pre-launch preparations. (more…)

Kathy Winters is an Air Force Civilian Meteorologist at the 45th Weather Squadron at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. She is the Space Shuttle Launch Weather Officer providing weather support to the Space Shuttle Program at Kennedy Space Center as the Launch Team prepares for the 29 April 2011 launch of Endeavour. You can find out more about the 45th Space Wing at their Facebook page.

Vehicle Assembly Building basin with Barge (Photo courtesy NASA Public Affairs)

When the External Tank Barge “Pegasus” is not transporting external tanks from the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans to Kennedy Space Center, it resides in the Vehicle Assembly Building basin between the Kennedy Space Center Press Site and the Shuttle launch pad. Due to this location and its size, the barge blocks the view of the launch from the press site; therefore, the United Space Alliance Marine Operations team must move the barge out of the way by launch day.  (more…)

Kathy Winters is an Air Force Civilian Meteorologist at the 45th Weather Squadron at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. She is the Space Shuttle Launch Weather Officer providing weather support to the Space Shuttle Program at Kennedy Space Center as the Launch Team prepares for the 29 April 2011 launch of Endeavour. You can find out more about the 45th Space Wing at their Facebook page.

Example of a segment move photo from the Kennedy Space Center Multimedia Web Site - http://go.usa.gov/TJC

On April 13, 2011, we had our last Solid Rocket Booster “segment move” for the final Shuttle mission launching in June. The solid fuel segments arrive on rail from the ATK solid rocket booster plant in Promontory, Utah, to the Rotation Processing Surge Facility at Kennedy Space Center, just north of the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB). The segments are then transported to the VAB for stacking.

The transport to the VAB requires no more than a 25% chance of lightning during the hour it takes to move the segment. Luckily, the weather was favorable that morning, and the team completed the transport successfully. (more…)