Rocket Launches

[AZRedhawk44]

Back when they built the space shuttle launch facilities in Cape Canaveral they also built a launch facility somewhere out in California.

It has yet to put a space shuttle up, but I believe the Air Force has used it for unmanned satellite insertions.

Whenever the shuttle goes up, it seems to arch out to the east over the ocean.  I always thought that was a courtesy and safety gesture that NASA made to the residents of Florida, but it seems that one of the reasons that NASA hasn't used the California launch facility is because they don't want to fly over the mainland US during launch.

From a rocketry/ballistic perspective, why would you want to launch a rocket to the east?  Do orbits have to be established in the direction of planetary rotation?

And, if that's the case, why would the FAA or NASA allow for a private spaceport in Nevada or California or New Mexico if NASA won't launch from the western half of the continent?

[Ben]

Back when they built the space shuttle launch facilities in Cape Canaveral they also built a launch facility somewhere out in California.

It has yet to put a space shuttle up, but I believe the Air Force has used it for unmanned satellite insertions.

From a rocketry/ballistic perspective, why would you want to launch a rocket to the east?  Do orbits have to be established in the direction of planetary rotation?

That's Vandenberg AFB. They do spacelifts out of there all the time and they all head over the ocean. It's also an alternate landing facility for the shuttle. Kinda fun landing there in a little fixed wing and only using 0.00005% of the runway. :)

[dogmush]

I thought (and I am not a rocket scientist) that they went east because the added velocity of the earth's rotation to the crafts, meaning less fuel is used to reach escape velocity.  They can launch west, it just requires more Delta V, and thus more fuel.  This is the same reason that launch facilities want to ba as close to the equator as possible, more velocity then the higher latitudes.

[Gewehr98]

Vandenberg AFB is one.  They'll do ICBM test flights out of there, too.  Those will head out into the Pacific near Kwajalein, where all the range rats sit and collect the data.  Did you know there's a Macy's West at Kwajalein?

(Miss snorkeling for Japanese WWII relics off of Kwaj, myself)

[RocketMan]

They also do a lot of polar orbital stuff out of Vandenberg if I am not mistaken.  The shuttle launch facility at Vandenberg was mothballed years ago when the AF backed away from the program for reasons I have forgotten.

[AJ Dual]

They also do a lot of polar orbital stuff out of Vandenberg if I am not mistaken.  The shuttle launch facility at Vandenberg was mothballed years ago when the AF backed away from the program for reasons I have forgotten.

Yes. It was my understanding that Vandenberg was to be for military shuttle missions in polar orbits.

And launching east with the Earth's rotation (also as close to the equator as possible) also confers a very significant launch cost savings due to the extra velocity to orbit/escape velocity imparted by the earth's spin.

Launching on polar or merely high-inclination orbits to cover all of the earth with a satellite (spysats, land mappers etc.) does not benefit as much or at all, depending, from the rotation boost.

[BobR]

Kinda fun landing there in a little fixed wing and only using 0.00005% of the runway.

We used to bounce (train) down there all the time when I was in P3's. We could do a full stop landing, then do an aborted take off and still have enough runway to take off on. We got a lot of work done in a short time.

bob

[HankB]

Back when they built the space shuttle launch facilities in Cape Canaveral they also built a launch facility somewhere out in California.

I believe the main purpose was to divert NASA funds into a jobs program for local contractors - actually launching shuttles was irrelevant.