They will send a balloon before the Artemis II mission to check the weather

Madrid. NASA will launch a probe balloon this Wednesday three hours before the spacecraft takes off Orion to collect data on the direction of the wind that will allow us to know in detail whether the meteorological conditions continue to be favorable to carry out the Artemis II mission, which will orbit the Moon after a trip of approximately 10 days.

“What we are doing is working with a series of thresholds to see exactly the type of wind we are going to face,” explained Mark Burger, meteorological officer for the launch in a press conference.

“If, for example, we know that it comes from the east-southeast area, as this is a northeast coast, only a small part of that wind could impact us. Now, if, for example, we see that there is a change in the direction of the wind and instead of going southeast it goes to northeast, we would face a much larger percentage of the wind component.”

The probe balloon that is sent three hours before launch will allow “to collect enough data to know” to what extent “it can fall within the threshold” that would force NASA to “abort the launch window.”

“We have to analyze, therefore, our expectations. If we need more information, we would launch more balloons, more balloon-probes to be able to have this information. And we also have another series of probes that are giving us constant real-time information on the direction in which the wind is going,” he explained.

Another of the main focuses of attention is on “cloud formations” that will move towards the west and may advance, stated the head of meteorology.

These clouds pose the main threat to the first of the three windows planned for takeoff. “We have to carry out monitoring to see if these clouds can generate some potential rain throughout the week,” said Burger.

In this sense, he assured that even if a cloud cluster occurred, it would not last more than 30 minutes at most, which would allow them to maneuver to consider whether they can “take advantage” of the remaining time of the window or wait for the next one.

According to current planning, the liftoff of the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket is scheduled for today from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida (United States).

The data handled by NASA point to “a humid climate, but with a breeze that will continue throughout the week and with some intermittent drizzles,” but with a “very low” risk of a thunderstorm “between 5 and 10 percent,” Burger specified.

Another risk factor is solar activity, which is expected to be somewhat more intense for this Wednesday, although it also indicated that the impact will be “less due to the position” of the Sun.

“Now, the weather changes. It is a variable entity and tends to opt for a less favorable option,” warned the person in charge of meteorology for Artemis II.