Poor weather has again scrubbed the launch of STS-127, the Space Shuttle Endeavour. A thunderstorm north of the Cape resulted in a red to launch condition for lightning and the presence of thunderstorm anvil clouds. There was also a field mill violation (which is a measurement of the electrical field from stations around the launch [...]
Mission controllers at NASA have waved off the landing opportunities for today for the Space Shuttle Atlantis because of weather at the Kennedy Space Center. There is a chance that the weather could cooperate at Kennedy tomorrow with improvement expected. The first opportunity tomorrow in Florida is at 9:11 a.m. CDT with a de-orbit burn [...]
Mission Controllers at NASA have decided to pass up the first of six landing opportunities for the Space Shuttle Atlantis this morning because of weather at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The alternate landing facility, Edwards AFB in California, has no weather problems with light winds and few clouds. But the team’s desire is [...]
1 PM UPDATE: Discovery just given go for de-orbit burn… Weather at the Kennedy Space Center prevented the Shuttle from landing during its first opportunity this afternoon. An overcast ceiling was the problem. Winds are borderline. The final opportunity for bringing Discovery safely home today will be just after 2:30 p.m. CDT. The de-orbit burn [...]
It was a very moving experience tonight to experience the launch of the Space Shuttle Discovery from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida from a vantage point 18 miles away in Cocoa Beach. Here are the photos:
Ten minutes into the mission and everything is good… Pictures shortly… Godspeed Discovery…
Forecasting the weather for Space Shuttle launches and landings is a critical part of the process. The weather rules for a shuttle launch are very clear and the launch weather officer and her team will call for a no-go if any of them are violated. Fortunately for us hoping to watch the Shuttle lift off [...]
According to information from a variety of sources, NASA’s Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO) failed to reach orbit after its launch from Vandenburg Air Force Base in California early this morning. NASA noted in a statement that a protective clamshell covering the satellite on the unmanned Taurus rocket failed to separate. The extra weight of this [...]
You may be getting tired of these long rain lists. If so, let me know. However, during these years of deficient rain I feel that there is a heightened interest in knowing how much occurred in your community. These reports are for the 24 hours ending at 7:00 this morning. Of course, almost all of [...]
Sound travels about 330 m/s (740 mph) in the atmosphere. When an object is travelling slower than the speed of the sound waves being generated, the sound waves radiate out in all directions, as shown below. But, when an object is travelling faster than the speed of sound, the object passes by a point before [...]