CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA’s launch weather team was monitoring conditions for Artemis II on Wednesday from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral

The launch weather team reports conditions to the launch director, who will then determine whether or not to launch.

The launch director may choose not to roll to launch pad if the lightning forecast is greater than 10%, if there is a greater than a 5% chance of hail, if sustained wind is forecast to be greater than 40 knots or peak wind greater than 45 knots, or if temperature is less than 40 degrees or exceeds 95 degrees.

Tanking cannot initiate if the 24-hour average temperature at both 132.5 feet and 257.5 feet is less than 41.4 degrees, or if it exceeds 94.5 degrees for 30 consecutive minutes.

Launching cannot happen if the peak liftoff winds exceed a range of 29 knots through 39 knots between 132.5 feet and 457.5 feet, or if upper-level wind conditions could lead to control problems.

More of the instructions for the NASA team:

Precipitation

Do not launch through precipitation.

Lightning

Do not initiate tanking of the core stage or ICPS if the lightning forecast is greater than 20% within 5 nautical miles of the launch area during tanking.

Do not launch for 30 minutes after lightning is observed within 10 nautical miles of the flight path, unless specified conditions related to cloud distance and surface electrical fields can be met.

Do not launch if the flight path is within 10 nautical miles of the edge of a thunderstorm that is producing lightning until 30 minutes after the last lightning discharge is observed, if the flight path is within 10 nautical miles of an attached thunderstorm anvil cloud unless temperature, time since last lightning, and distance criteria can be met, and if within 3 nautical miles, maximum radar reflectivity criteria also are satisfied.

Do not launch if the flight path is within 10 nautical miles of a detached thunderstorm anvil cloud unless temperature, time since lightning and/or detachment, and distance criteria can be met, and if within 3 nautical miles, maximum radar reflectivity criteria also are satisfied.

Clouds

Do not launch if the flight path is within 3 nautical miles of a thunderstorm debris cloud for 3 hours, unless temperature, surface electric field, and radar reflectivity criteria can be met.

Do not launch if the flight path is within 5 nautical miles of disturbed weather clouds that extend into freezing temperatures and contain moderate or greater precipitation.

Do not launch through a cloud layer that is within 5 nautical miles, greater than 4,500 feet thick, and extends into freezing temperatures, unless specific criteria related to radar reflectivity and cloud altitude can be met.

Do not launch if the flight path is within 10 nautical miles of cumulus clouds with certain distance and height criteria. There are additional caveats that could be met for clouds not reaching -5 degrees Celsius.

Do not launch through cumulus clouds formed as the result of or directly attached to a smoke plume, unless more than 60 minutes passed since detachment from the smoke plume.

Do not launch for 15 minutes if field mill instrument readings within 5 nautical miles of the launch pad equal or exceed +/- 1,500 volts per meter, or +/- 1,000 volts per meter, unless specific caveats related to clouds within 10 nautical miles of the flight path can be met.

Solar Activity

Do not launch during severe or extreme solar activity resulting in increased density of solar energetic particles with the potential to damage electronic circuits and make radio communication with the launch vehicle difficult or impossible.

Landing, recovery weather criteria

For splashdown and recovery operations, evaluation of weather criteria at a particular landing site assumes that adequate satellite, radar, and surface weather observer surveillance must be available.

The primary driver for nominal splashdown recovery success is significant wave height, wind speed, and cloud coverage and visibility.

To recover the crew and Orion spacecraft at the recovery site, there cannot be precipitation or thunderstorms within 30 nautical miles. Significant wave height should be less than six feet and winds under 25 knots to deploy the boats that will help recover the crew.

More on Artemis II

• Get to know the four Artemis II astronauts
• WATCH IT: Artemis II moon flyby mission launch
• Artemis II moon mission set to launch from Cape Canaveral
• Artemis II astronauts arrive at Florida launch site for first moon trip in 53 years
• Apollo’s impatient old-timers are rooting for NASA’s return to the moon with Artemis II launch

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