Space News
space history and artifacts articles

Messages
space history discussion forums

Sightings
worldwide astronaut appearances

Resources
selected space history documents

  collectSPACE: Messages
  Space Explorers & Workers
  John Madura, NASA weather officer (1942-2014)

Post New Topic  Post A Reply
profile | register | preferences | faq | search

next newest topic | next oldest topic
Author Topic:   John Madura, NASA weather officer (1942-2014)
Robert Pearlman
Editor

Posts: 42988
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 08-22-2014 06:18 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
NASA release
NASA Weather Manager Helped Develop Launch Commit Criteria

Meteorologist John T. Madura, who led development of the lighting launch commit criteria used by NASA and the U.S. Air Force, died Aug. 14, 2014 at the age of 71. He served as manager of the Kennedy Space Center's Weather Office since 1993.

The spaceport's Weather Office was established in the late 1980s after studies showed that 50 percent of all launch scrubs were due to meteorological issues. A part of the spaceport's Ground Processing Directorate, the office coordinates weather support to NASA human spaceflight and expendable launch vehicle operations agency wide, as well as supporting work throughout the Florida spaceport.

"John worked long hours and maintained many relationships with organizations supporting spaceflight and, indeed, we are all better for his service," said Patrick Simpkins, Ph. D., NASA's director of Ground Processing at the space center. "He bravely fought health issues years ago in order to come back to the team and the work he loved."

The space center's chief technologist, Karen Thompson, added her praise for Madura's service.

"It has been my pleasure to work with John for many years and to see how visionary he remained," she said. "He recently led a tour for members of the Research and Technology reorganization group to provide an understanding of capabilities related to weather. We will greatly miss him."

Fellow meteorologist, Frank Merceret, Ph. D., explained that his longtime colleague was one of the most hard-working individuals he ever knew.

"John always was dedicated to his job," said Merceret, retired chief of NASA's Applied Meteorological Unit. "He deeply believed in what he was doing."

The Applied Meteorology Unit is a multi-agency cooperative effort for transitioning new techniques from the research arena to improve operational weather forecasting and analysis in support of the space program.

A Los Angeles native, Madura earned a bachelor's degree in physics from Loyola-Marymount University in 1964, a master's degree in international relations from the University of Southern California in 1967 and a master's in meteorology from the University of Michigan in 1973.

Prior to joining NASA, Madura was commander of the U.S. Air Force's 45th Weather Squadron at Patrick Air Force Base, Florida. The group performs weather assessments for air and space operations specifically focusing on weather observations, forecasts, advisories and warnings.

"The Air Force brought John in after the loss of AC-67," Merceret said.

On March 26, 1987, Atlas/Centaur (AC)-67 carrying a Department of Defense Fleet Satellite Communications F-6 satellite was launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The NASA investigation board determined that the vehicle was struck by a triggered, cloud-to-ground lightning ultimately resulting in the breakup of the rocket.

"The accident investigation determined that the failure was due, in part, to inadequate and misinterpreted launch commit criteria for lightning," said Merceret.

Madura set up a Lightning Advisory Panel made up of leading experts in lighting phenomena. The group established new standards for use by NASA, the U.S. Air Force and the Federal Aviation Administration.

"In addition to the new criteria, John developed a rigorous training program for launch weather officers in the use and interpretation of lighting data and the lighting launch commit criteria," Merceret said. "John also worked with NASA to secure funding and engineering assistance to upgrade the network of field mills around Kennedy and the Cape."

Electric field mills are devices that allow scientists to measure the potential for lightning.

After retiring from the Air Force as a colonel in 1993, Madura assumed his role with NASA.

When the agency's Weather Office in Washington closed in 1997, the local Weather Office became responsible for weather support to all Space Shuttle and Expendable Launch Vehicle programs, including support from the Johnson Space Center, Marshall Space Flight Center, Edwards Air Force Base in California and the Western Range.

"We get involved in a wide spectrum of activity," Madura said in a March 2000 interview for the Kennedy publication Spaceport News. "We have many interfaces with folks outside the Kennedy realm. I probably spend 70 percent of my time each day focusing the resources of people who are not Kennedy employees or contractors."

In the Spring-Summer 2008 edition of KSC Tech Transfer Magazine, Madura helped describe the role of the KSC Weather Office.

"Let’s start with what we don’t do," he said. "We don’t forecast weather. We don’t make go/no-go calls at launch countdowns. At the KSC Weather Office, we help engineers and operators design requirements that make sense, and we make sure those requirements are correctly and effectively communicated to people responsible for meeting them. We have agency wide responsibility for operational weather support for launches and landings of NASA manned spacecraft and launches of NASA expendable launch vehicles."

Merceret noted that Madura was instrumental in encouraging the Air Force to adopt Lightning Detection and Ranging (LDAR) systems, a Kennedy-developed technology now available as a commercial product.

The LDAR system tracks the arrival times of electromagnetic pulses induced by lightning. An analysis of this data tells weather officials the exact location and altitude of all three types of lightning. LDAR helps NASA minimize unnecessary warnings, allowing the workforce to get tasks done without endangering personnel or hardware. The system also is used by utility companies, airports and more benefiting industries across the nation.

Even with many advances in weather detection, Madura pointed out that weather forecasting for Kennedy and Cape Canaveral always is challenging.

"Central Florida is a veritable storm factory, one of the most active in the world," he said. "We also have the densest weather infrastructure in the world. Scientists like to come here, and we encourage and foster that. In gathering data here, they're studying our problems and we don't have to pay them a thing for it. We just help them with logistics requirements such as site access, permits, power and communications."

Helping others understand weather phenomena and forecasting always was a priority for Madura.

"John would go out of his way to help us brief the news media on how the weather might impact a rocket launch or space shuttle landing," said NASA Public Affairs officer George Diller. "Reporters often expressed appreciation for his insights."

Merceret pointed out that Madura always had a presentation for the level of any group interested in weather.

"His door was always open," he said. "It didn't matter if it was a group of meteorological students or grade school Girl Scouts. John had a pitch at just the right level."

Madura was awarded the NASA Distinguished Service Medal in 2013. The highest honor bestowed by the agency, the recognition is presented to those who display outstanding service, ability or courage, and have personally made a contribution representing substantial progress to the NASA mission. In 1999, he was selected as a NASA Space Flight Awareness Honoree, recognizing employees involved in human spaceflight for promoting flight safety and mission success.

A resident of Cocoa Beach, Florida, Madura is survived by his former wife, Jenna, and their daughter, Tiffany Madura.

GACspaceguy
Member

Posts: 2476
From: Guyton, GA
Registered: Jan 2006

posted 08-22-2014 07:23 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for GACspaceguy   Click Here to Email GACspaceguy     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
.

randy
Member

Posts: 2176
From: West Jordan, Utah USA
Registered: Dec 1999

posted 08-22-2014 08:04 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for randy   Click Here to Email randy     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
.

mach3valkyrie
Member

Posts: 719
From: Albany, Oregon
Registered: Jul 2006

posted 08-22-2014 09:48 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for mach3valkyrie   Click Here to Email mach3valkyrie     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
.

Lunar rock nut
Member

Posts: 911
From: Oklahoma city, Oklahoma U.S.A.
Registered: Feb 2007

posted 08-22-2014 11:23 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Lunar rock nut   Click Here to Email Lunar rock nut     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
.

cspg
Member

Posts: 6210
From: Geneva, Switzerland
Registered: May 2006

posted 08-23-2014 01:37 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for cspg   Click Here to Email cspg     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
.

Kite
Member

Posts: 831
From: Northampton UK
Registered: Nov 2009

posted 08-23-2014 04:33 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Kite     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
.

apolloprojeckt
Member

Posts: 1447
From: Arnhem, Netherlands
Registered: Feb 2009

posted 08-23-2014 04:56 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for apolloprojeckt   Click Here to Email apolloprojeckt     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
.

David C
Member

Posts: 1015
From: Lausanne
Registered: Apr 2012

posted 08-23-2014 05:46 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for David C     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
.

Ronpur
Member

Posts: 1211
From: Brandon, Fl
Registered: May 2012

posted 08-23-2014 06:18 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Ronpur   Click Here to Email Ronpur     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
.

Tom
Member

Posts: 1597
From: New York
Registered: Nov 2000

posted 08-23-2014 07:55 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Tom   Click Here to Email Tom     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
.

Norman.King
Member

Posts: 375
From: Herne Bay, Kent, UK
Registered: Feb 2010

posted 08-23-2014 09:03 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Norman.King   Click Here to Email Norman.King     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
.

David Carey
Member

Posts: 782
From:
Registered: Mar 2009

posted 08-23-2014 09:25 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for David Carey   Click Here to Email David Carey     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
.

East-Frisian
Member

Posts: 586
From: Germany
Registered: Apr 2005

posted 08-23-2014 01:28 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for East-Frisian     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
.

Astro Rich
Member

Posts: 133
From: Huntsville, Alabama
Registered: Feb 2014

posted 08-24-2014 05:08 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Astro Rich   Click Here to Email Astro Rich     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
.

Delta7
Member

Posts: 1505
From: Bluffton IN USA
Registered: Oct 2007

posted 08-24-2014 05:14 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Delta7   Click Here to Email Delta7     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
.

mode1charlie
Member

Posts: 1169
From: Honolulu, HI
Registered: Sep 2010

posted 08-24-2014 05:54 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for mode1charlie   Click Here to Email mode1charlie     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
.

dss65
Member

Posts: 1156
From: Sandpoint, ID, USA
Registered: Mar 2003

posted 08-25-2014 09:32 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for dss65   Click Here to Email dss65     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
.

Fra Mauro
Member

Posts: 1587
From: Bethpage, N.Y.
Registered: Jul 2002

posted 08-26-2014 02:06 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Fra Mauro   Click Here to Email Fra Mauro     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
.

RockyMnWay
Member

Posts: 106
From: Westminster, CO, USA
Registered: Jul 2011

posted 08-26-2014 07:26 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for RockyMnWay   Click Here to Email RockyMnWay     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
.

All times are CT (US)

next newest topic | next oldest topic

Administrative Options: Close Topic | Archive/Move | Delete Topic
Post New Topic  Post A Reply
Hop to:

Contact Us | The Source for Space History & Artifacts

Copyright 2020 collectSPACE.com All rights reserved.


Ultimate Bulletin Board 5.47a





advertisement