Spaceflight Meteorology Group Explained

The Spaceflight Meteorology Group (SMG) is a U.S. weather forecasting unit staffed by the National Weather Service (NWS) for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) which provides pertinent information on the current and expected state of the atmosphere during human spaceflight operations. It is located at the Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston, Texas. Meteorological information for the broader space program is provided by the 45th Space Wing's 45th Weather Squadron of the U.S. Air Force (USAF).^{[1] [2]}

SMG covered Space Shuttle missions^[3] and was planned to cover Orion missions.^[4] Following the landing of Space Shuttle Atlantis during STS-135 on July 21, 2011, many of the SMG forecasters were relocated elsewhere in the National Weather Service, leaving a reduced staff at JSC.^[5] The Spaceflight Meteorology Group is also tasked with forecasting emergency landings for Soyuz missions when those rendezvous with the International Space Station (ISS).^[6]

See also

• Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC)
• Center Weather Service Unit (CWSU)
• 557th Weather Wing (USAF)

Further reading

• Bauman, III . William H. . S. Businger . Nowcasting for Space Shuttle Landings at Kennedy Space Center, Florida . Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc. . 77 . 10 . 2295–305 . Oct 1996 . 10.1175/1520-0477(1996)077<2295:NFSSLA>2.0.CO;2 . 1996BAMS...77.2295B . free .
• Frank C. . Brody . Operations of the National Weather Service Spaceflight Meteorology Group . 9th Conference on Aviation, Range, and Aerospace Meteorology . American Meteorological Society . Sep 2000 . Orlando, FL .
• Brian . Hoeth . Tools used by the spaceflight meteorology group to evaluate the space shuttle weather flight rules for landing forecasts . 23rd Conference on IIPS . American Meteorological Society . Jan 2007 . San Antonio, TX .
• K. A. . Winters . W.P. Roeder . J.T. Madura . H. Herring . Use of Archived Weather Data from Spaceport Florida in Support of Space Shuttle Columbia Accident Investigation . 14th Conference on Applied Climatology . American Meteorological Society . 2004-01-04 . Seattle, WA .

External links

• Spaceflight Meteorology Group (SMG)
• Human Spaceflight - Weather forecasts (NASA)
• Applied Meteorology Unit (AMU) (NASA)

Notes and References

1. Web site: SMG and Space Program Mission, History, and Information . Spaceflight Meteorology Group . 3 Oct 2011 . 2012-01-24 .
2. Web site: Frequently Asked Questions . Spaceflight Meteorology Group . 8 Oct 2002 . 2012-01-24 .
3. Brody . Frank C. . R.A. Lafosse . D.G. Bellue . T.D. Oram . Operations of the National Weather Service Spaceflight Meteorology Group . Weather Forecast. . 12 . 3 . 526–44 . Sep 1997 . 10.1175/1520-0434(1997)012<0526:OOTNWS>2.0.CO;2 . 1520-0434 . 1997WtFor..12..526B . free .
4. Timothy . Oram . NWS Spaceflight Meteorology Group Support for the NASA Constellation Orion Vehicle . 13th Conference on Aviation, Range and Aerospace Meteorology . . Jan 2008 . New Orleans, LA .
5. Web site: Spaceflight Meteorology Group Forecasters To Face Bold New Challenges . National Weather Service . 2011-08-15 . 2012-01-16 .
6. T.D. . Oram . Verification of world-wide space station emergency landing forecasts - Challenges and results . 10th Conference on Aviation, Range, and Aerospace Meteorology . 186–8 . American Meteorological Society . May 2002 . Portland, OR .