Sally Ride became the first American woman in space 42 years ago today. Here's how weather played a role then and now.

For the launch to be successful, the weather had to be near perfect, and the east coast of Central Florida was basking in amazing conditions that morning. Liftoff commenced without delay with temperatures in the low 70s and near-still wind.
This NASA file photo dated June 1983 shows America's first woman astronaut Sally Ride, as she communicates with ground controllers from the flight deck during the six-day space mission of the Challenger. Ride, the first US woman to fly in space, died on July 23, 2012 after a 17-month battle with pancreatic cancer. She was 61.
-
But bad weather in Florida upon return to Earth June 24, 1983, forced Challenger to land three time zones away at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., in the Mojave desert, where still conditions were certain, especially for a powerless glider that depended on a stable atmosphere to land comfortably. The base also provided very wide runways for a smooth Challenger landing.
Sally Ride and STS-7 returns safely in California after bad weather in Florida changed the landing location.
NASA
Advertisement
NASA has strict parameters in place when it comes to weather to 'greenlight' a launch — most of which are obvious.
Wind speed and direction need to be light and steady. High winds of 30 miles per hour or more will usually scrap flight plans for the day, and any sudden changes in wind direction may cause issues as the rocket moves vertically through the atmosphere.
(Back when Sally Ride was breaking barriers in the Space Shuttle program, launches were delayed or canceled when wind speeds were as low as 22 miles per hour.)
Advertisement
High visibility with little to no cloud cover is also necessary. Any instability in the atmosphere, albeit minor, can cause lightning when a rocket burning copious amounts of fuel at extreme temperatures blasts through. Apollo 12 was struck by lightning twice during liftoff on Nov. 14, 1969, because of its heat production. Essentially, the rocket's exhaust system acted as a lightning rod and sparked lightning with already-lifting air from a nearby cold front.
Temperatures and humidity both play critical roles in NASA rocket launches, as everything from the structural integrity and rocket performance can be impacted by weather conditions. Fuel, insulation, wiring, and other components can expand, contract, or break down if weather conditions aren't ideal.
Many will remember the Challenger's last trip on Jan. 28, 1986, when air temperatures were 36 degrees, approximately 15 degrees colder than any other shuttle launch, causing the O-ring seal to become brittle and ultimately fail, leading to a catastrophic explosion. All
Weather continues to play a critical role in NASA's strict 'launch commit criteria,' and if anything is near or outside the safe range, the launch is delayed or scrubbed for another day.
Here's a look at an example weather checklist when considering safe conditions to launch.
An example of the weather checklist utilized to proceed or delay a rocket launch at Cape Canaveral.
NASA
Ken Mahan can be reached at

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

Newsweek

40 minutes ago

• Newsweek

Map Reveals Blackout Over US States After 'Extreme' Solar Flare

Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Large parts of the United States faced a radio blackout on Thursday following a strong solar flare from the sun. The "extreme ultraviolet flash" was captured by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory satellite. The solar flare, categorized as X-class in scale—the highest scale, was triggered by an active region of a sunspot on June 19 at 11:50 p.m. UTC. Radiation from the X1.9 blast caused a shortwave radio blackout over the Pacific Ocean, leading to a loss of signal at frequencies below 25 Megahertz (MHz). Amateur radio operators, especially in Hawaii, may have noticed the signal loss. Solar flares are intense bursts of radiation from the sun. The most powerful explosions in the solar system, they can can contain as much energy as a billion hydrogen bombs, according to NASA. Solar flares are classified according to their intensity, with X being the highest on the scale. X-class solar flares can cause planet-wide radio blackouts and long-lasting radiation storms. A map showing the areas affected by the solar flare, including large parts of the United States. Inset, an image of the solar flare. A map showing the areas affected by the solar flare, including large parts of the United States. Inset, an image of the solar flare. NOAA/SWPC/NASA The latest solar flare follows an M-class one, the second-highest on the scale, that occurred days earlier on June 15. It caused a shortwave radio blackout across North America, with a loss of signal seen at frequencies below 20 Megahertz (MHz). Unlike the M8.3 solar flare on Sunday, the solar flare on Thursday did not launch a Coronal Mass Ejection (CME)—a massive burst of plasma and magnetic field lines—into space. However, the explosion has apparently destabilized a magnetic filament in the sun's southern hemisphere. This massive filament, which is erupting now, may produce a CME, which could lead to geomagnetic storms. A solar flare erupting on June 19, causing the radio blackout. A solar flare erupting on June 19, causing the radio blackout. NASA / Solar Dynamics Observatory "When a CME arrives at Earth, it can produce some of the biggest geomagnetic storms and thus, some of the brightest and most active auroras that extend furthest toward the equator," explained NOAA. Geomagnetic storms caused by CMEs can lead to aurora borealis, also known as the northern lights. The northern lights are formed from electrons colliding with the upper reaches of Earth's atmosphere. During these collisions, "the electrons transfer their energy to the atmosphere thus exciting the atoms and molecules to higher energy states" and "when they relax back down to lower energy states, they release their energy in the form of light," explains the Space Weather Prediction Center. Stronger solar cycles produce more solar storms with greater intensity, which drives geomagnetic activity. "If the geomagnetic field is active, then the aurora will be brighter and further from the poles," where the northern lights are typically most visible, says the Space Weather Prediction Center. This means that the aurora borealis may be viewed from lower latitudes than usual. Last year, strong solar activity allowed northern lights enthusiasts to catch a rare viewing of the natural display in parts of the world where they're normally not seen, such as in Japan. Do you have a tip on a science story that Newsweek should be covering? Do you have a question about space? Let us know via science@

New York Times

an hour ago

• New York Times

How Astronomers Will Deal With 60 Million Billion Bytes of Imagery

It was not that long ago that astronomers would spend a night looking through a telescope, making careful observations of one or a few points of light. Based on those few observations, they would extrapolate broad generalizations about the universe. 'It was all people could really do at the time, because it was hard to collect data,' said Leanne Guy, the data management scientist at the new Vera C. Rubin Observatory. Rubin, located in Chile and financed by the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation, will inundate astronomers with data. Each image taken by Rubin's camera consists of 3.2 billion pixels that may contain previously undiscovered asteroids, dwarf planets, supernovas and galaxies. And each pixel records one of 65,536 shades of gray. That's 6.4 billion bytes of information in just one picture. Ten of those images would contain roughly as much data as all of the words that The New York Times has published in print during its 173-year history. Rubin will capture about 1,000 images each night. As the data from each image is quickly shuffled to the observatory's computer servers, the telescope will pivot to the next patch of sky, taking a picture every 40 seconds or so. It will do that over and over again almost nightly for a decade. The final tally will total about 60 million billion bytes of image data. That is a '6' followed by 16 zeros: 60,000,000,000,000,000. Rubin's 3.2 Gigapixel Camera At the heart of the Rubin observatory is the largest digital camera in the world, a supercooled grid with hundreds of high-resolution sensors. See how the camera works. By The New York Times PERU BOLIVIA BRAZIL ANDES MTS. PARAGUAY Vera C. Rubin Observatory URUGUAY Santiago ARGENTINA CHILE Atlantic Ocean Pacific Ocean By The New York Times Want all of The Times? Subscribe.

UPI

an hour ago

• UPI

Axiom-4 mission to space station put on hold

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is prepared to launch its Crew Dragon capsule and an International crew from the United States, Poland, Hungary and India on Axiom Mission 4 to the International Space Station from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Photo by Joe Marino/UPI | License Photo June 20 (UPI) -- NASA will reschedule the Axiom-4 commercial mission to the International Space Station after postponing a launch that had been planned for than Sunday, the space agency said. The agency said it needs to ensure the space station is ready and able to receive added crew members, according to a statement released Thursday. The station's orbital laboratory's Zvezda service module was repaired recently, and NASA is reviewing data to confirm the station's interdependent and interconnected systems are prepared to handle additional people aboard. The planned commercial trip to the space station is to utilize a SpaceX Dragon rocket launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The four-person flight crew members are from different countries, with Indian Space Research Organization astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla to serve as pilot and European Space Agency astronauts Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski of Poland and Tibor Kapu of Hungary as mission specialists. The mission is to be commanded by Peggy Whitson, a former NASA astronaut and director of human spaceflight at Axiom Space. "With a culturally diverse crew, we are not only advancing scientific knowledge but also fostering international collaboration," said Whitson in a quote from the Axiom Space website,. "Our previous missions set the stage and with Ax-4, we ascend even higher, bringing more nations to low-Earth orbit and expanding humanity's reach among the stars." According to Axiom Space, the mision is to be "the most research and science-related activities conducted on an Axiom Space mission aboard the International Space Station to date." With the space station in low-Earth orbit, crew members will conduct research under microgravity based in biological, life and material sciences and also undertake Earth observation. The astronauts are being kept in quarantine, and the SpaceX rocket and Crew Dragon capsule are on standby at Kennedy Space Center. Axiom-4 liftoff was originally planned for June 11, but then scrubbed after a leak was found in the Falcon 9 rocket.