CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – You may have heard that NASA and SpaceX are planning the first astronaut launch in nine years at Cape Canaveral on Wednesday. What you may not know is the importance the weather plays in whether the Falcon 9 rocket will be able to lift off or not.
Forecasters in the 45th Weather Squadron at the nearby Patrick Air Force Base have given a 60% chance of lift-off at 4:33 p.m. EDT Wednesday. There are certain launch commit criteria that must be met for the rocket to get off the ground.
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What could keep Falcon 9 from sending Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken to space are the possibilities of flight through precipitation, the anvil cloud rule and the cumulus cloud rule.
- Flight through precipitation: Do not launch within 5 nautical miles of disturbed weather clouds that extend into freezing temperatures and contain moderate or greater precipitation, unless specific time-associated distance criteria can be met.
- Anvil cloud rule: Do not launch within 10 nautical miles of an attached thunderstorm anvil cloud, unless temperature and time-associated distance criteria can be met.
- Cumulus cloud rule: Do not launch within 10 nautical miles of cumulus clouds with tops that extend into freezing temperatures, unless specific height-associated distance criteria can be met.
If officials decide to cancel Wednesday’s launch, the backup date is Saturday, which has been given a 70% chance of lift-off. You can watch live coverage of Wednesday’s launch starting at 12:15 p.m.