End of an Era: STS-135 Atlantis Landing

By Carla Voorhees

Kathy Winters is an Air Force Civilian Meteorologist at the 45th Weather Squadron at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. She is the Space Shuttle Launch Weather Officer providing weather support to the Space Shuttle Program at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) as the Launch Team prepares for the 21 July 2011 landing of Atlantis. You can find out more about the 45th Space Wing at their Facebook page.

Atlantis landed at Kennedy Space Center this morning. The weather was perfect!

Sometimes weather can cause the Shuttle to land at Edwards Air Force Base, California. In this case, the Shuttle team immediately starts preparing the vehicle for a Ferry Flight. This mission was not the last chance for a Ferry Flight—Ferry Flights will also take Endeavour and Discovery to their designated static display locations once they are prepared.

The 45th Weather Squadron normally deploys a team of 3 people to provide weather support for Ferry Flights. Not only does the team travel to Edwards for the flight planning when orbiters land there, but they also ride on the “Pathfinder” aircraft, an aircraft which carries the bulk of the Ferry Flight Team and flies ahead of the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft. There are two Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, and they are modified 747s. It’s hard to imagine with how much fuel a 747 can carry, the Ferry Flight still has to make approximately 3 stops from California to Florida!

The Ferry Flight is a weather-sensitive mission, so the weather team’s forecast and the Pathfinder aircraft ensure the Ferry Flight does not experience any unexpected weather. In fact, although the route is pre-planned, the weather usually drives the actual route the Ferry Flight takes. Check out these weather constraints for Ferry Flight—not a typical aviation mission! These are the typical constraints for a post-mission Ferry Flight. The 45th Weather Squadron team will find out soon whether all of these constraints apply for the flights to the static display locations.

The Shuttle Ferry Flight is a weather sensitive operation! (Source: 45th Weather Squadron)

I guess this is my last blog! Check out the KSC Multimedia web site to see the images from today’s event. It’s hard to believe this is the last Space Shuttle mission; 30 years, 135 missions—the end of an era.