Off to the Cape

I dropped my husband off at the airport this morning for his week at Cape Canaveral. It doesn't look like Ike is going to be much of a threat to the Cape. The biggest problem for that area will be if they have to evacuate the Miami area and everyone heads north. In the meantime, here's another Ike graphic from NOAA (http://www.noaa.gov/). I'm sure that you are all getting plenty of information on Ike from the weather reports.












Here is a recent photo from NOAA of Ike raging over Cuba. It's really hitting hard down there. Let's hope that it doesn't gain strength when it hits the warm waters of the Gulf.









A friend of ours was stranded in Haiti during
Hurricane Gustav's rampage. He'd gone down on August 19th with a group from our church to do some work at our mission there and to attend the ceremony in which one of the brothers took his final vows at the monastery. Everyone made preparations to ride out the storm. They had 40 inches of rain over a 24 hour period. Winds reached 70 miles per hour. Flights were cancelled. After considerable delay, our friend arrived at the airport on Thursday, Aug. 28th along with 750 other people trying to get home. We were glad to have him back safe and sound.

Beach?

Well, it looks like Hanna isn't going to be much of a problem at Cape Canaveral. Ike, on the other hand, could result in the meetings being postponed. As of last night's weather report, Ike was really turning into a meanie. By the way, I was checking out my two brightly colored wind speed charts on the previous post and it occurred to me that it looked like I'd posted the same one twice. They are small enough that I couldn't read the print. When I checked the originals, they do look just about the same. Your best bet is to go to NOAA and check (http://www.noaa.gov/). There could be some changes now since the storms have moved.

And it looks like going down for the launch on Oct. 8, probably won't work due to the possibility of launch cancellations for whatever reasons. Phooey. I was just hoping for a little beach time. Oh, well.

A Trip to the Beach?

Just this morning my husband told me that he'll be out of town all next week for meetings. When I asked where, he said Kennedy Space Center and that he'd been trying to work things out so that I could go along. Well, we both agreed that with a 17-year old son in high school, that probably isn't the best thing. It's rather short notice to try to work out arrangements with anyone to "babysit" him for the week, anyway. On top of that, what is the weather going to do over there on the Atlantic coast over the next few days?


I'd really like to try to work something out. I haven't been to Cape Canaveral in several years. It is one of my favorite places to go. I love to just sit on the beach and watch the surf. Even though I'm partial to the warmer waters of the Gulf, Cape Canaveral just appeals to me in some way. I especially like the Merritt Island National Seashore and the nature center there. Not only that, we need a little time away. Guess I'll check out NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration http://www.noaa.gov/).


Here's the latest NOAA satellite photo of the Atlantic. Doesn't look too promising, does it? With Hanna on the way, then Ike and Josephine (not shown) following right behind, it's possible that things will be postponed, anyway. Take a look at the wind speed probabilities through Tuesday, Sept. 9, that are shown on the NOAA site.


The graph on the left shows the 5-day projected path of Hanna. The one on the right shows Hanna's wind speed probabilities and the one below these two shows Ike's projected wind speeds. Hmm. Doesn't look too good for sitting on the beach, does it?














There isn't a launch scheduled until October 8. It was postponed from August. The photo of the shuttle Atlantis being taken out to launch pad 39A was taken by Reuters photographer, Scott Audette, this morning as it began its 6-hour trek out to the launch pad. Here is the Atlantis launch information from NASA (http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/main/index.html). They expect Hanna to be far enough out from the coast that it won't pose a threat.

Hmm. The launch is scheduled during our city schools' fall break, Oct. 6-10. The kids and I haven't been down to a launch in several years. Maybe I can persuade a certain someone to take us down for it. Of course, there's always the possibility of a postponement with or without a hurricane, but if you take the chance and it's a go, it's really worth it.

My thanks to NOAA, NASA and Reuters for the images and information.