Mercury Program
Weather Support
NASA was formed on 29 July
1958. Not long after, Project
Mercury was announced with the goal of placing a man into space.
NASA determined that Project Mercury would require unique weather support
and that the civilian Weather Bureau (the predecessor to the National Weather
Service) should be the lead organization for providing this support.
The Weather Bureau established the Project Mercury Weather Support Group
with 3 subordinate units to support the program. The Cape Canaveral
office provided support for pre-launch preparations, launch and recovery
operations. The Suitland Maryland office at the National Meteorological
Center provided access to the Weather Bureaus communications and computer
systems. The Miami Florida office (co-located with the Hurricane
Center) provide expertise for weather in the ocean recovery areas.
Air Weather Service and contract personnel at Patrick Air Force Base/Cape Canaveral
Air Force Station and Navy weather personnel on-board ships in the recovery
areas provided assistance, primarily observations and upper atmosphere
balloon measurements, to the Weather Bureau forecasters.
Mission Weather Summary
Mission |
Launch Date |
Launch Weather |
Recovery Date
Location
(Duration) |
Recovery Weather |
Freedom 7
MR-3 |
May 5, 1961
9:34am EST |
SCT Low Clouds
MR-3
Launch Image showing scatter cumulus clouds
MR-3
Launch Image showing clear skies above cumulus |
May 5, 1961
9:49am EST
75deg 53min West, 27deg
13.7min North (15 min, 28 seconds) |
Not Available |
Liberty Bell 7 MR-4 |
July 21, 1961
7:20 a.m. EST |
SCT-BKN Mid Clouds
MR-4
Launch Image with altocumulus and cirrus clouds
|
July 21, 1961
7:36 a.m. EST
302 miles East of launch
site
(15 min, 37 seconds ) |
SCT Low Clouds
MR-4
Recovery Image showing scatterd cumulus clouds |
Friendship 7 MA-6 |
February 20, 1962
9:47:39 am EST |
Clear skies
MA-6
Launch into clear skies
Broken
stratocumulus during launch countdown |
February 20, 1962
14:43:02 am EST.
800 miles southeast of Bermuda
(4 hours, 55 min, 23 seconds) |
Not Available |
Aurora 7 MA-7 |
May 24, 1962
7:45:16 EST |
BKN070
Vis: 1 mi FG and Smoke
Wind: 24008KTS
Temp/Dew: 77 F/73
F (RH 88%).
MA-7
Launch - a bit hazy
|
May 24, 1962
12:41 p.m. EST.
19deg 29min North 64deg
05min West
(4 hours, 56 min, 5 seconds) |
OVC010
Vis: 10mi
Wnd: xxx08KTS
Seas: 3-foot waves
MA-7
Recovery - 3ft Seas |
Sigma 7 MA-8 |
October 3, 1962
7:15 a.m EST |
MA-8
Launch: SCT Cumulus and Cirrus Clouds |
October 3, 1962
4:28 p.m EST
(9 hours, 13 min, 11 seconds) |
2,000 broken, visibility
10 miles, 3 foot seas.
MA-8
Landing: A few whitecaps
|
Faith 7 MA-9 |
May 15, 1963
8:04:13 am EST |
MA-9
Launch: Maybe some high cirrocumulus |
May 16, 1963
6:04:02 p.m EST
(1 Day, 10 hours, 19 min,
49 seconds) |
0.5 cloud coverage at 1500
feet, 5 to 6 foot waves, surface wind 15 knots from 085 degrees.
Tops about 36,000.
MA-9
Landing: A good view of the sea state
|
Significant Events
Total Number of Weather Related
Scrubs and Delays: 7 Scrubs, 2 Delays.
4 of 6 (66%) Mission Launches
Impacted by Weather. (Note that the counting of weather related scrubs
and delays used here is similar to the current accounting in the Space Shuttle
program in that delays prior to entering a launch count are not included.)
Freedom 7 MR-3:
First US Manned Flight (Shepherd) (1 Scrub)
Delayed at T-15 due to low
clouds obscuring the view of the launch area. Visibility improved
20 to 45 minutes later. Scrubbed for 1 day. (Source:
www.ksc.nasa.gov/history/)
Liberty Bell 7 MR-4:
Second US Manned Flight (Grissom) (2 Scrubs, 1 Delay)
The launch was originally
scheduled for July 18, 1961, but was rescheduled to July 19 due to unfavorable
weather conditions. The launch attempt of July 19, 1961 was cancelled
at T-10 minutes due to continued unfavorable weather. The launch
was then scheduled for July 21, 1961. Preparation proceeded normally
through the 12 hour planned hold. Weather evaluation at this time
affirmed favorable launch conditions. At T-180 minutes, a planned
1-hour hold was called for another weather evaluation. Other holds
occurred due to other problems. At T-15 Minutes, a 41-minute hold
was called to await better cloud conditions. The launch count then
proceeded normally (Source: Results of the Second U.S. Manned Suborbital
Space Flight, NASA)
Friendship 7 MA-6: First
US Manned Orbital Flight (Glenn) (4 Scrubs)
Of the 33 days on the pad,
7 days of weather delays.(Source: Results of First Manned Orbital Space
Flight). Pre-count was completed on 27 Jan 1962, but weather cancelled
the launch count at T-13 minutes. Pre-counts were again started on
13, 15, and 16 Feb but were scrubbed due to adverse weather.
Aurora 7 MA-7: Second
US Manned Orbital Flight (Carpenter) (1 Delay)
T-11min 15-minute hold for
weather (launch area smoke and ground fog). Hold extended for additional
15 minutes for weather. Hold extended for additional l0 minutes for evaluation
of atmospheric-refraction data. Hold extended for additional 5 minutes
to complete refracto-meter data evaluation. Although the ground visibility
at liftoff was limited to one mile, the estimated camera coverage through
250,000 was predicted to be good at the time of launch(Source: Postlaunch
Memorandum Report for Mercury-Atlas No. 7, Part I Mission Analysis)
Sigma 7 MA-8: Third
US Manned Orbital Flight (Schirra)
Weather forecasts on the
morning of October 2, 1962 indicated that Hurricane Daisy might be in position
to cause unfavorable weather in area 3-1. Therefore, recovery ships
were relocated approximately 215 miles downrange At launch time, weather
conditions were favorable in all planned Atlantic and Pacific recovery
locations. (MA8_tec.pdf, , available on the Mission Transcript Collection)
Faith 7 MA-9: Fourth
US Manned Orbital Flight (Carpenter)
No significant weather impacts
were noted.
References:
NASA
SP-4201: This New Ocean: A History of Project Mercury
Results of the Second U.S.
Manned Suborbital Space Flight, NASA. Available on the Mission Transcript
Collection
Results of the First U.S.
Manned Orbital Space Flight, NASA. Available on the Mission Transcript
Collection
Postlaunch Memorandum Report
for Mercury-Atlas No. 7, Part I Mission Analysis.
MA8_tec2.pdf, available
on the Mission Transcript Collection
MA9_tec.pdf, available on
the Mission Transcript Collection
Go to Gemini or Apollo weather support history.
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