On this episode of Talking Space with Mark Ratterman and Dr Kat Robison we have an excellent interview from Mark with Kennedy Space Center’s Dr Kristin Smith and Kathy Rice, both of whom are in KSC's weather office. Special thanks to KSC’s public affairs team, especially Mary MacLaughlin, who make it possible to bring interviews like this to our listeners. Mark talks with Kristin and Kathy about NASA’s Tropospheric Doppler Radar Wind Profiler (TDRWP) which monitors weather in the upper atmosphere like upper level winds (which we all know are very important on launch days). Kathy and Kristin explain how users, from NASA to SpaceX, utilize this important data and how it differs from other tools, such as weather balloons. The data from TDRWP is publicly available. Also, check out this link for info on how it was tested with ham radio operators and this site for more info on the whole system at KSC.
Mark and Kat also have a brief chat (and please forgive her technical difficulties!) about a few space news topics before the interview. Kat shares about a history making series of launches in Australia at the Arnhem Space Centre (ASC) in the Northern Territory. The series of three sounding rocket launches to study astrophysics were the first NASA launches from a fully commercial spaceport and were undertaken in partnership with Equatorial Launch Australia. She and Mark also discuss the first deep field image from JWST, which includes light from one galaxy which traveled 13.1 billion years to JWST’s mirrors. Find out more and see the rest of JWST’s first images here.
Show recorded: 7-24-2022
Hosts: Mark Ratterman & Dr. Kat Robison
Special Guests: Dr. Kristin Smith and Kathy Rice
Episode 322: The Ghost of Spacecraft Past
Episode 321: Booster Ignition and Liftoff!
Episode 320 Days of Future Past
Episode 319:3+1=WOW
Episode 318: Turn to Page Talking Space of your History Books
Episode 317: The STS-134 Scrubcast
Episode 316: The Space Shuttle Shuffle
Episode 315: AMS-02 Ready Willing and Able
Episode 314: The Shuttle's Final Frontier...A Museum
Episode 313: 30 Years of STS-1 Beautiful Vehicle
Episode 312: Space Flight Gives You Wiiings
Episode 311 - The State of Affairs
Episode 310: Wanted --- Shuttle Orbiter to a Good Home
Episode 309: ...Quoth Discovery, Nevermore
Episode 308: To Tweetfinity...And Beyond
Episode 307: The Glory Days of Talking Space
Episode 306: Love at First Launch
Episode 305: A New Look on
Episode 304: A Discovery Launch is
Episode 303: Antimatter in Thunderstorms? Shocking!
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