Path: utzoo!linus!husc6!mit-eddie!uw-beaver!cornell!rochester!PT.CS.CMU.EDU!sei!sei.cmu.edu!kwh
From: kwh@sei.cmu.edu (Kurt Hoyt)
Newsgroups: sci.space.shuttle
Subject: Re: New Schedule
Keywords: Lightning and thunder
Message-ID: <4159@aw.sei.cmu.edu>
Date: 10 Feb 88 16:01:05 GMT
References: <248@encad.Wichita.NCR.COM>, <191800003@trsvax>
Sender: netnews@sei.cmu.edu
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In article <248@encad.Wichita.NCR.COM> mjohnson@encad.Wichita.NCR.COM writes:
>Has anyone else observed that this schedule leaves the Discovery sitting out
>exposed to the weather for the bulk of the (often violent) Florida summer
>thunderstorm season? What about the distinct possibility of lightning 
>strikes to the launch complex/vehicle????

It's been done before. There is a lightning rod on top of the service tower
on both pads. I'm sure that surviving a Florida thunderstorm is one of the
requirements on most launch vehicles (at least surviving on the ground). The
only thing that might worry NASA is a hurricane (the east coast of Florida
is 'due' for a good one, but they are protected by the Gulf Stream --
hurricanes seem to get deflected by it to North Carolina instead).

--
Kurt Hoyt			| ARPA:   kwh@sei.cmu.edu
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paper quota for impressive formulas." SIGGRAPH '87 Proceedings, p. 73