Launch Weather Report for GRACE Follow-On

Capt. Jennifer Haden
Capt. Jennifer Haden, weather officer, 30th Space Wing, Vandenberg Air Force Base, discusses the weather forecast during a Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment Follow-On (GRACE-FO) mission prelaunch media briefing, Monday, May 21, 2018, at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The twin GRACE-FO spacecraft will measure changes in how mass is redistributed within and among Earth’s atmosphere, oceans, land and ice sheets, as well as within Earth itself. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

At this morning’s briefing on the GRACE-FO mission at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, U.S. Air Force Capt. Jennifer Haden, weather officer with the 30th Space Wing, reported a greater than 90 percent chance of favorable weather for liftoff tomorrow, May 2.. For once, the central California coastline’s predominant fog is predicted to be elevated to about 800 to 1600 feet by a low-pressure system moving in from the west, so people in the Lompoc area may get a view of the liftoff before the rocket ascends into the clouds. Surface winds are forecast to be 8 to 12 knots (9 to 14 miles an hour).

 

Credit: NASA