KSC Prepares For Irma
Hurricane Irma’s approach hasn’t deterred SpaceX, Orlando Sentinel
“Hurricane Irma’s approach toward Florida hasn’t deterred SpaceX’s plan to launch a rocket Thursday. The Elon Musk-led space company announced Wednesday that a 5-hour, 5-minute window will open at 9:50 a.m. Thursday. U.S. Air Force officials have said that the chances of a launch sit about 50 percent. SpaceX will try to land the rocket on a landing zone, a move expected to result in a sonic boom that will be heard across Central Florida. If the Falcon 9 rocket does not go up, a second window will open at an undetermined time Friday.”
Still repairing from Matthew, Kennedy Space Center preps for Hurricane Irma, Click Orlando
“On Wednesday, Kennedy Space Center enacted a HURCON IV declaration by the Emergency Operation Center, meaning center managers are preparing facilities and their employees for 58 mph winds within 72 hours. … Under a HURCON declaration all normal operations stop to prepare for the storm, according to NASA.”
– Video Of Space Station Orbital Pass Over Hurricane Irma
– Hurricane Irma Seen From Orbit By Eumetsat
– Suomi NPP Observes Barbuda As Hurricane Irma Attacked
The best place for the X-37B will be in space. Hope the launch goes well and puts it safely in orbit.
Launch looked great. Hope they get the booster under cover quickly. SpaceX has demonstrated a certain amount of panache.
Yes, it was a great launch with great video. It’s good it’s back in space where it’s needed.
What happened to that NASA satellite that was suppose to measure hurricane winds by using GPS signals? It must not work. Did it agree with NWS? 185 mph Irma was 30 mi. N. of Puerto Rico. The measured winds on PR were below 60 mph. NWS really seems off on the wind speeds by about half. How NWS predicts winds does not agree with the actual measured winds. Virgin Islands had 106 MPH sustained. It went directly over them. Perhaps CYGNSS has long delays and NASA can not tell NWS what they measured. I found an example of a storm hitting Madagascar, but it did not compare what it said with what was actually measured. First time I have been in WalMart and no sliced bread.
Peak sustained winds are in the eye wall. Being farther away is safer.
The news media generally go with peak winds, which are measured in the eye wall, because they’re the scariest numbers. Fortunately for Puerto Rico, the eye did not pass over the island.
No. The media likely go with max wind speeds because that’s how hurricanes are classified according to the Saffir–Simpson hurricane wind scale: by the maximum sustained wind speeds, which are in the eye wall, as mentioned.
The work done by the scientists at our NHC is nothing short of stunning. These guys are very, very deliberate about the approach they take. Analysis techniques are transparent.
Not sure I’d like my own work so widely reviewed!
The accuracy of their efforts has been improving steadily over the decades. The NHC joins a rarified group of Federal agencies— I’m thinking of FAA, of FEMA, and especially the NTSB— agencies at the top of their game.