Storm Sets Off NASA Rockets Accidentally

Lightning ignited three small NASA rockets, causing them to launch accidentally Tuesday night, officials said Wednesday.

The same storm knocked the nation’s prime weather satellites out of service for several hours, depriving Americans of satellite images from space normally seen on television news.

At least three lightning bolts hit a satellite ground receiving station at Wallops, Va., overwhelming defensive measures including lightning rods, surge suppressors and a grounding system, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said.

Weather Images Lost

The station was unable to obtain weather images from GOES-West, the stationary satellite watching the Western United States, from 4:15 p.m. Tuesday until 1:15 a.m. Wednesday, the agency said. GOES-East images were blanked out from 4:30 p.m. until 11 p.m. Tuesday.

“This is the worst lightning strike the station has incurred in its 18-year history. Previous lightning strikes have caused the loss of no more than an hour’s worth of GOES data and have never before hit multiple antennas,” said Larry Heacock, director of satellite operations for agency.

The lightning was part of a severe storm in the Virginia and Maryland coastal areas. It made a direct hit on one antenna and also hit the power lines that feed all the station ground systems.

Four solid-fuel rockets were on the pad at nearby Wallops Island, Va. One was waiting to be launched to check the effect of lightning on the ionosphere, and two were small pacer rockets that help set tracking systems, NASA said. The three had been fitted with igniters, the fourth rocket was not.

“When the lightning hit, it ignited both test rockets and the Orion vehicle,” said John L. Parks Jr., range safety officer at the Wallops Flight Facility.