It's not rocket science...is it?

Question

Does anyone know why space centres, such as Cape Canaveral are located in tropical climates?

Answer 1

It's not about the climate, it's about distance to the equator.

The Earth's rotation adds more velocity to a launched rocket the closer to the equator you are. At the equator, the Earth is spinning at about 1000 miles/hour. At the poles it's essentially zero.

Answer 2

we only have two centers. houston and cape canaveral. houston is not tropical. it was the land and near military bases. the locations were mostly due to the weather as up north it would be to cold for the missions. temps and weather have the basis of launching. the other was location near water during launches and picking up. fort knox was already a military base when they decided to build the gold vault. the mountains were a good location. kentucy and many states nearby were nuke testing sights in the mountains as nevada is. the warmer climate for the launches in both states near bases by the water was best for nasa to use. the west has earthquakes. the north to cold and windy. the midwest has tornados and such. the south was the best location due to better weather.

Answer 3

The closer a rocket is to the equator when launched, the less speed it needs to achieve orbit. So, many launch facilities are in tropical areas, like Cape Canaveral and the European Space Agency facility in French Guiana.

Answer 4

The reason is simple.

The closer to the equator you launch a rocket, the more of a boost it gets from the natural rotation of the Earth (assuming an eastward launch). And I quote:

"Cape Canaveral was chosen for rocket launches to take advantage of the earth's rotation. The centrifugal force of this rotation is greatest at the equator, and to take advantage of it, rockets are launched eastward, in the same direction. It is also highly desirable to have the downrange area sparsely populated, in case of accidents; an ocean is ideal for this. Although the United States has sites closer to the equator with expanses of ocean to the east of them (e.g. Hawaii, Puerto Rico), the east coast of Florida has substantial logistical advantages over these island locations."

Answer 5

The most common use for space launches is to put communications and spy satellites into low - medium Earth orbit, not to launch distant probes. A tropical location gives easier access to the proper alignment for an orbit that will cover all the major land masses.

Answer 6

~Given that Cape Canaveral is not in a tropical climate and Baikanor Cosmodrome even less so, and the origin rocket launch site at Peenemunda was sub-arrtic, you should really research your facts before posting inane questions.

Answer 7

The Earths rotational velocity at the equator is faster than anywhere else on the planet. This makes it the best place to launch because the Earths spinning velocity is added to the rockets boost speed.

Answer 8

the closer to the equator that you are, the less distance you will have to travel to get into orbit. less distance means less fuel which means less money, and its very expensive ot put stuff on a rocket and launch it. in the future, if they havent started already, they will start putting rockets on 'barges' and float them out to the actual equator to launch,, not just close as we do now in florida, and every other country nearly does in the top of south america.

Answer 9

easier access to space station .
easier access to orbit
easier way to cool of their heads as temp. will be low

Answer 10

its the best trajectory to acheive orbit