Atmospheric environment for space shuttle (STS-38) launch

Abstract

A summary of selected atmospheric conditions observed near space shuttle STS-38 launch time on November 15, 1990, at Kennedy Space Center is presented. STS-38 carried a Department of Defense payload and the flight azimuth in this report will be denoted by a reference flight azimuth, since the actual flight azimuth is not known. Values of ambient pressure, temperature, moisture, ground winds, visual observation (cloud), and winds aloft are included. The sequence of prelaunch Jimsphere-measured vertical wind profiles is presented. The final atmospheric tape, which consists of wind and thermodynamic parameters versus altitude, for STS-38 vehicle ascent was constructed. The STS-38 ascent atmospheric data tape was constructed by Marshall Space Flight Center's Earth Science and Applications Division to provide an internally consistent data set for use in postflight performance assessments and represents the best estimate of the launch environment to the 400,000-ft altitude that was traversed by the STS-38 vehicle.