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Info NASA / SpaceX Manned Launch SCRUBBED (5/27) NEXT TRY 5/30 @

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Every article I read says the launch was scrubbed due to "bad weather." Can anyone describe what that means in this context? Was it partially cloudy? Too hot? Too cold?
 
woolfe9998 said:
Every article I read says the launch was scrubbed due to "bad weather." Can anyone describe what that means in this context? Was it partially cloudy? Too hot? Too cold?
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Certain types of clouds at certain altitudes in the flight path with certain characteristics (I'd wager static electricity).
 
[DHT]Osiris said:
Certain types of clouds at certain altitudes in the flight path with certain characteristics (I'd wager static electricity).
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Yeah I would guess it had something to do with clouds. Not a storm or truly inclement weather. Sigh. For space travel to ever become even semi-routine, it can't be reliant on perfect weather conditions. This is not meant to criticize anyone. I'm just bemoaning the fact that after 60 years of space travel, the technology is still so limited as to require perfect weather conditions and all the stars aligned. Among other things, it makes space travel that much more expensive.
 
woolfe9998 said:
Yeah I would guess it had something to do with clouds. Not a storm or truly inclement weather. Sigh. For space travel to ever become even semi-routine, it can't be reliant on perfect weather conditions. This is not meant to criticize anyone. I'm just bemoaning the fact that after 60 years of space travel, the technology is still so limited as to require perfect weather conditions and all the stars aligned. Among other things, it makes space travel that much more expensive.
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Requires a lot of engineering and technology development that is very expensive, and as of right now we launch rarely enough that it's more expensive to develop that stuff rather than just wait another few days. If we as a species were depending on it as much as we depended on things like sea travel, there'd absolutely be some advancements in that area and we could probably launch in anything short of an actual thunderstorm.
 
[DHT]Osiris said:
Requires a lot of engineering and technology development that is very expensive, and as of right now we launch rarely enough that it's more expensive to develop that stuff rather than just wait another few days. If we as a species were depending on it as much as we depended on things like sea travel, there'd absolutely be some advancements in that area and we could probably launch in anything short of an actual thunderstorm.
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Or it may just prove to be really difficult from an engineering standpoint to create technology which permits launch in a wide variety of weather conditions within the safety margins we find tolerable for manned flight. Aircraft can fly in anything short of severe weather, and for commercial air travel I think I read the chance of a crash on a given flight is around one in a million. There are thousands of commercial flights every day.

Given the known history of rocket launches, it's considerably worse than that, and that's given the far narrower weather parameters. Even 1 in a 1000 is going to be intolerable if we expect frequent manned flight. Just 20 manned launches per day means over 6 catastrophes a year. You certainly wouldn't want to be a "frequent flyer" under those conditions.

I think we're pretty far from making space travel remotely routine.
 
woolfe9998 said:
Every article I read says the launch was scrubbed due to "bad weather." Can anyone describe what that means in this context? Was it partially cloudy? Too hot? Too cold?
Click to expand...
Flight rules do generally limit launches to certain temperature ranges and wind speeds both at the launch site and at abort landing sites. But in this case it was due to the potential for lightning in the area. Rocket launches can actually trigger a lightning strike by providing a ground path through their exhaust from the clouds to the ground.
 
Paratus said:
Flight rules do generally limit launches to certain temperature ranges and wind speeds both at the launch site and at abort landing sites. But in this case it was due to the potential for lightning in the area. Rocket launches can actually trigger a lightning strike by providing a ground path through their exhaust from the clouds to the ground.
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Ah yes, I seem to recall reading somewhere that this happened to one of the Apollo missions, that it was struck by lightning that wasn't naturally occurring. Though the mission was somehow successful in spite of it. Would coating the rocket with a layer of non-conducting material solve this, or are they already doing that and it isn't enough safety margin?
 
woolfe9998 said:
Ah yes, I seem to recall reading somewhere that this happened to one of the Apollo missions, that it was struck by lightning that wasn't naturally occurring. Though the mission was somehow successful in spite of it.
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Apollo 12 which was mentioned on the last page. A bunch of other rockets have been hit.

Here’s an unmanned Soyuz that was hit but survived:
0_PAY-Soyuz-launch-on-27-May_2_east2west.jpg
 
Paratus said:
Apollo 12 which was mentioned on the last page. A bunch of other rockets have been hit.

Here’s an unmanned Soyuz that was hit:
0_PAY-Soyuz-launch-on-27-May_2_east2west.jpg
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Yet Apollo 12 was successful in spite of being struck by lightning. Not sure about the Soyuz. I had added this to my prior post before you replied: would coating the rocket with a thin layer of light, non-conducting material be a good idea, or are they already doing that anyway?
 
Paratus said:
Apollo 12 which was mentioned on the last page. A bunch of other rockets have been hit.

Here’s an unmanned Soyuz that was hit but survived:
0_PAY-Soyuz-launch-on-27-May_2_east2west.jpg
Click to expand...
You can stimulate lighting with a small rocket. They actually do this to study lightning. The exhaust plume creates a lower resistant path. So you do not want to launch when the potential to set it off are all around you.

University Produces Lightning Using A Rocket - Videos from The Weather Channel | weather.com

How do scientists study lightning? By launching a rocket into a thundercloud just before lighting appears to strike. - Videos from The Weather Channel | weather.com
weather.com
 
We are at 50% right? and 60% for tomorrow .. which gives us a ~80% chance for launch over the weekend (as of right now).
 
Artorias said:
So is this going ahead? They are entering the rocket now.
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They entered last time, that doesn't mean they will launch. It's entirely dependent upon everything being checked that they are ready along with the weather being in optimal conditions for launch.


Which to be honest, you gotta wonder how much this costs us to get all ready, suited up, rockets fueled, tons of employees across the states, etc .. all to have it scrapped on weather reasons that we knew well in advance weren't optimal.
 
s0me0nesmind1 said:
They entered last time, that doesn't mean they will launch. It's entirely dependent upon everything being checked that they are ready along with the weather being in optimal conditions for launch.


Which to be honest, you gotta wonder how much this costs us to get all ready, suited up, rockets fueled, tons of employees across the states, etc .. all to have it scrapped on weather reasons that we knew well in advance weren't optimal.
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Just with what we know about the stuff in common domain, walk the planning back , it has got to be a nightmare of planning ...
 
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