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 In
preparation for a smooth landing of the historic Space Shuttle
Discovery mission, NASA's Mission Control Center at the Johnson
Space Center in Houston will be turning to NOAA's National Weather
Service Spaceflight Meteorology Group (SMG) for weather forecasts
at designated and back-up landing sites.
The National Weather Service
(NWS) has provided direct weather support to NASA since the Mercury
program. When the Manned Space Center opened in Houston in 1962,
a contingent of the NWS (then called the Weather Bureau) also
came to Houston to provide spacecraft recovery weather support.
The SMG has supported all Space Shuttle missions since STS-1
in 1982.
 A team of SMG meteorologists, located
on NASA's Johnson Space Flight Center, provides NASA and NASA
customers with forecast information and weather briefings to
ensure a safe landing of all shuttle missions. The forecasts
help NASA's flight control and mission management teams determine
whether the landing weather at a particular landing site is a
"go" or "no go." SMG provides detailed weather
forecasts for Space Shuttle landing sites in Florida, California,
New Mexico, Spain, and Africa.
 SMG issues weather advisories
for thunderstorms, heavy rains, and hurricanes to Johnson Space
Center, and provides weather briefings to NASA astronauts for
training flights. Between missions, the SMG meteorologists serve
as meteorological consultants to the Johnson Space Flight Center
and shuttle program; prepare forecasts for the U.S. and overseas
landing sites; evaluate and recommend changes in weather flight
rules; and provide training classes to flight controllers and
astronauts.
More information on the SMG is available on the Internet at:
http://shuttle.nasa.gov/weather
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