NWS Spaceflight Meteorology Group supported the NASA CPAS [CEV (crew exploration vehicle) Parachute Assembly System] parachute drop test of the Orion spacecraft at Yuma Proving Grounds, Arizona on February 12. SMG provided forecasts and briefings of upper winds and surface weather to NASA CPAS teams in Houston and Yuma. This last drop was to test the case of a failed parachute. A video of the test is available for viewing. SMG has been providing this support to the CPAS program since 2010.

National Weather Service (NWS) Spaceflight Meteorology Group (SMG) will once again provide weather decision support to the NASA International Space Station Program by forecasting enroute weather for NASA personnel flying from Houston to Kazakhstan -- to retrieve U.S. astronauts that landed with the Russian Soyuz spacecraft on the evening of March 14, 2013 (CDT). [Show More]