I forgot about swim bladders, (Darn it Jim, I’m an engineer, not an ichthyologist). Still, in a gravity environment, the bladder is necessary to keep the fish properly oriented, in relation to the water surface. In free fall, it seems to me that the fish could propel itself straight ahead, eventually bumping into the side wall, leaving the surface and wriggling thru the air, then bumping into water again. If the containers air has near 100 % humidity, the fish should be able to survive(its gills wouldn’t dry out). I was just wondering if the critter could eventually adapt to such an environment? I expect its pursuit of food would likely be a totally random effort.

Gary 7

They have to clear a range area, so no one gets hit by falling rocket. As that range area is also used for other things, aircraft ships, etc. they can’t have it indefinitely cleared. They instead arrange (with the appropriate authorities) a usage window for themselves. There may also be other reasons?

As for the weather, IIRC, as it’s a test rocket they need better than usual(?) visibility and also the need to avoid static electricity for the monitoring instruments, otherwise they could get “blind” parts to the flight.