Orbiter Control Panel:  Weather

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The Space Shuttle Orbiter will pass through 500 miles of air before it reaches orbit.  If something goes wrong, the Shuttle may have to quickly come down in Spain, Africa or all the way around the Earth to the western United States.  Your job today is to check the weather conditions in Florida, along the flight path over the Atlantic Ocean and at each of the Abort Sites that the shuttle uses to land.  Because the shuttle does not have an engine when it lands (your concern is both launch and, in case of emergency, landing), it needs the following conditions

• Partly cloudy or sunny

• No rain, snow or hail

• Wind lower than 17 MPH

Read the full requirements for weather at a shuttle landing site by clicking here: http://www.srh.noaa.gov/smg/wxcrit.htm

Then check each of the launch and emergency landing sites to make sure that the shuttle has a place to land.  You will CHOOSE the best emergency landing sites and report those the the group monitoring emergency procedures.