AEROSPACE METEOROLOGY LESSONS LEARNED RELATIVE TO AEROSPACE VEHICLE DESIGN AND OPERATIONS

Aerospace Meteorology came into being in the 1950s as the development of rockets for military and civilian usage grew in the United States. It was coined to identify those involved in the development of natural environment models, design/operational requirements, and environment measurement systems to support the needs of aerospace vehicles, both launch vehicles and spacecraft. It encompassed the natural environment of the Earth, including Earth orbit environments. Several groups within the United States were active in this area, including the Department of Defense, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and some of the aerospace industry groups. Some of the aerospace meteorology efforts were similar to those being undertaken relative to the aviation interests. As part of these activities a number of Lessons Learned produced follow on efforts that benefited from the experiences, thus leading to the rather efficient and technologically current descriptions of terrestrial environment design requirements, prelaunch monitoring systems, and forecast capabilities to support the development and operations of aerospace vehicles. This paper will address some of these lessons and how they contributed to the advancement of aerospace meteorology based on the experiences of the author and his colleagues.