{"id":16703,"date":"2015-01-03T18:52:23","date_gmt":"2015-01-03T10:52:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/rain-and-clouds-in-the-forecast-for-tuesdays-spacex-launch\/"},"modified":"2015-01-03T18:52:23","modified_gmt":"2015-01-03T10:52:23","slug":"rain-and-clouds-in-the-forecast-for-tuesdays-spacex-launch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/rain-and-clouds-in-the-forecast-for-tuesdays-spacex-launch\/","title":{"rendered":"Rain and clouds in the forecast for Tuesday\u2019s SpaceX launch"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"File
File photo of a Falcon 9 rocket at Cape Canaveral\u2019s Complex 40 launch pad before a previous mission. Credit: SpaceX<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Meteorologists predict mostly cloudy conditions with a chance of light rain for Tuesday morning\u2019s scheduled takeoff of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with a space station-bound supply ship, with a 40 percent chance weather could prevent liftoff during the instantaneous predawn launch opportunity.<\/p>\n

The 20-story rocket is set for liftoff at 6:20 a.m. EST (1120 GMT) Tuesday from Cape Canaveral\u2019s Complex 40 launch pad. It will send a cargo load of more than 3,700 pounds of provisions and experiments to the six-person crew living on the International Space Station.<\/p>\n

SpaceX will have one second to send the Falcon 9 booster and Dragon cargo craft skyward. The launch window is timed for approximately the moment the International Space Station\u2019s orbital path passes above Cape Canaveral. If weather or a technical issue prevents launch Tuesday, the next chance for liftoff will be Friday morning.<\/p>\n

Technicians will load time-sensitive experiment specimens and fresh food into the Dragon capsule Monday.<\/p>\n

The official weather outlook released Saturday by the U.S. Air Force\u2019s 45th Weather Squadron calls for a 60 percent chance of favorable conditions for Tuesday\u2019s launch.<\/p>\n

A front will likely be draped over Central Florida early Tuesday, and forecasters predict a chance of very light rain and scattered clouds at 2,000 feet and 12,000 feet \u2014 plus a broken cloud deck at 24,000 feet \u2014 for the instantaneous launch window.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe next frontal boundary will move into the area by Monday, bringing another bout of upper level clouds and increased rain chances,\u201d the Air Force weather team wrote in a forecast summary. \u201cLike the last boundary, this front will likely not make it south of Central Florida before stalling and lingering over the area for a day or two. With the boundary overhead, the primary weather concern will be thick clouds.\u201d<\/p>\n

Winds will be from the north-northeast at 8 to 12 mph and the temperature will be around 66 degrees Fahrenheit at launch time Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Officials expect good visibility and low solar activity.<\/p>\n

If the launch is delayed to Friday, there is a 30 percent chance that weather will prohibit launch, mainly due to a concern about flight through precipitation.<\/p>\n

The unmanned Dragon supply ship is due to rendezvous with the space station Thursday if the mission takes off on schedule Tuesday.<\/p>\n

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

File photo of a Falcon 9 rocket at Cape Canaveral\u2019s Complex 40 launch pad before a previous mission. Credit: SpaceX Meteorologists predict mostly cloudy conditions with a chance of light rain for Tuesday morning\u2019s scheduled takeoff of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with a space station-bound supply ship, with a 40 percent chance weather could […]<\/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":[2211,1736,1395,479,316,4157],"class_list":["post-16703","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-45th-weather-squadron","tag-complex-40","tag-dragon","tag-falcon-9","tag-spacex","tag-spacex-5"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16703"}],"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=16703"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16703\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16703"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16703"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16703"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}