(no subject)

[vik_thor]

«sigh»
shuttle launch delayed till tomorrow. because of anvils at the emergency landing site.

Can someone explain to me why our 'spaceport' is in Florida? Is it just because it is closest to the equator of the contiguous US, and gets the best rotational boost?
Personally, it seems to me that somewhere out west, in the mountains would be better.

Here in Arizona! MANY more clear days than Florida!

Anyone know what the current status of a Magnetic launch system is?

Comments

[walkertxkitty.livejournal.com]

It's here because the main suppliers of the various components are/were here at the time it was created and because of the physics of the "windows" needed for missions. Other places simply do not have enough suitable windows for synchronizing with whatever is in orbit or whatever orbit is needed. In this case, if they had launched they wouldn't have been able to land it in Florida or in Spain and it wouldn't have lasted in lower orbit long enough to reach Houston or California. It was disappointing because in all probability they COULD have launched. They had a clear launch from the pad, they just didn't have a clear approach to any of the emergency landing sites.