ORLANDO, Fla. — As NASA inches closer to a future return to the moon, its first leap toward its moonshot goal — Artemis I — is planned to launch during the peak of hurricane seaso…
By Joe Mario Pedersen | Orlando Sentinel
Statistically, the day with the highest frequency of hurricane activity is Sept. 10 but the days leading up to it, from Aug. 15 onward, are when some of the most powerful hurricanes have been traditionally observed: hurricanes Andrew, Frances, Ivan and Katrina. That poses a potential problem for NASA’s launch pads and its 322-foot-tall Artemis I rocket stack hoping to launch from the most tropical-storm-prone state in the country.
Keeping its eyes on a safe sky, the Spaceflight Meteorology Group would provide its forecast to the launch director, identifying any potential risks. Weather criteria preventing the launch can include a variety of potential dangers. One of the more obvious being lightning, which would delay a launch for 30 minutes if lightning is observed within 10 nautical miles of the flight path. A lightning threat even delayed the rollout this past week, but just for an hour.
It was the second positive strike to hit or come near hitting a launch pad in 11 years, but the 2011 strike was weaker than April’s lightning bolt, which was intercepted by the lightning protection system and transferred the lightning’s energy through catenary wires to the ground.• Thick cloud layers within 5 nautical miles, greater than 4,500 feet thick
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