{"id":16596,"date":"2015-02-06T17:43:02","date_gmt":"2015-02-06T09:43:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/near-ideal-weather-expected-for-sundays-falcon-9-launch\/"},"modified":"2015-02-06T17:43:02","modified_gmt":"2015-02-06T09:43:02","slug":"near-ideal-weather-expected-for-sundays-falcon-9-launch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/near-ideal-weather-expected-for-sundays-falcon-9-launch\/","title":{"rendered":"Near-ideal weather expected for Sunday\u2019s Falcon 9 launch"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"orbcomm_f9_in_hanger_2\"
File photo of a Falcon 9 rocket inside SpaceX\u2019s hangar at Cape Canaveral before a previous launch. Credit: SpaceX<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Forecasters predict mostly clear skies, light winds and comfortable temperatures for Sunday\u2019s launch of a Falcon 9 rocket with a NOAA satellite designed to warn of solar storms that could disrupt navigation and communication technology on Earth.<\/p>\n

The Deep Space Climate Observatory is set for liftoff from Cape Canaveral\u2019s Complex 40 launch pad at 6:10:12 p.m. EST (2310:12 GMT) Sunday in an instantaneous launch opportunity, according to Mike Curie, a NASA spokesperson.<\/p>\n

The launch is scheduled two minutes after sunset at Cape Canaveral, and could create a dusk spectacle as the 22-story launcher rises into sunlight.<\/p>\n

The two-stage Falcon 9 rocket will deploy the refrigerator-sized satellite in space about 30 minutes after launch, sending DSCOVR on a high-speed trajectory to escape the bonds of Earth\u2019s gravity.<\/p>\n

DSCOVR\u2019s final station will be at the L1 libration point, a gravitationally-stable location a million miles from the day side of Earth.<\/p>\n

A NASA spokesperson said a launch readiness review Friday gave the go-ahead to continue with final launch preparations, including rollout of the Falcon 9 from its processing hangar to the Complex 40 launch pad, where it will be rotated vertical for Sunday\u2019s countdown.<\/p>\n

\"Credit:
Credit: NOAA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The official weather forecast issued by the U.S. Air Force\u2019s 45th Weather Squadron on Friday calls for a less than 10 percent chance conditions could violate the Falcon 9 rocket\u2019s weather constraints.<\/p>\n

\u201cA high pressure area drops south into Florida on Saturday and Sunday, allowing for plenty of sunshine and temperatures near 70 degrees Fahrenheit along the Space Coast,\u201d forecasters wrote in a weather summary. \u201cThere is very little threat of any launch weather rule violations. Maximum upper winds will be from the northwest at 40 knots near 42,000 feet.\u201d<\/p>\n

The forecast calls for a few cumulus clouds at 3,000 feet and a layer of scattered cirrostratus clouds at 26,000 feet. Winds will be from the southeast at 8 to 12 mph, and temperature at launch time will be around 68 degrees Fahrenheit.<\/p>\n

The only slight chance of exceeding a launch weather constraint will be with the cumulus cloud rule, according to the forecast.<\/p>\n

If the launch is delayed to Monday \u2014 when the launch time would be 6:07 p.m. EST (2307 GMT) \u2014 there is an 80 percent chance of acceptable weather, with the main worry being thick clouds from an approaching cold front.<\/p>\n

Follow Stephen Clark on Twitter: @StephenClark1.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

File photo of a Falcon 9 rocket inside SpaceX\u2019s hangar at Cape Canaveral before a previous launch. Credit: SpaceX Forecasters predict mostly clear skies, light winds and comfortable temperatures for Sunday\u2019s launch of a Falcon 9 rocket with a NOAA satellite designed to warn of solar storms that could disrupt navigation and communication technology on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[2308,479,975,1542,316],"class_list":["post-16596","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-dscovr","tag-falcon-9","tag-noaa","tag-space-launch-complex-40","tag-spacex"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16596"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16596"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16596\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16596"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16596"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16596"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}