Who is the Spaceflight Meteorology Group: how many, what background, what organization?
The Spaceflight Meteorology Group consists of 8 NOAA / National Weather Service meteorologists, one Consolidated Space Operations Contract (CSOC) meteorologist, and an administrative assistant. All meteorologists have at least a B.S. in meteorology, although a few have M.S. degrees in meteorology or related fields. SMG Lead Forecasters typically have at least 10 years of forecasting experience before being hired as an SMG forecaster. The current SMG staff has over 60 years of combined Shuttle landing weather support experience. Two of SMG’s lead forecasters have over 17 years of experience (as of Jan. 2002) in shuttle landing weather forecasting. SMG Technique Development Unit (TDU) meteorologists have backgrounds in computer system applications, meteorological technique development, and technology transfer. SMG is contracted by NASA to support the manned spaceflight program and operates on a “reimbursable” agreement between NASA and NOAA/NWS. In addition, a small group of CSOC softwar
