why does nasa launch shuttles off of florida instead of high elevation areas such as colorado ?

Question

seems kinda silly to me, since this would decreas fuel consumpotion by a large factor

Answer 1

It might reduce the fuel used (by a small amount), but the safety factor is more important.

The natural flight path (due to the rotation of the Earth) is for rockets to curve to the east. During the early years of rocket testing there were a number of explosions and crashes. By launching from Florida, rockets are very quickly over the unpopulated Atlantic ocean, reducing the chance of damage or injury over populated areas.

Answer 2

The escape velocity of the earth is about 11.2 km/s. This is a very high velocity. In order to be most efficient and conserve the most fuel you want to launch the shuttle or rocket as close to the equator as possible.

The reason for this is that the rotation of the earth will help "sling" the rocket or shuttle out into its orbit after launch.

You also want to have the launch site to be as safe as possible and to be as far away from a major population as you can. If anything goes wrong the debris will not harm anyone.

The height difference is not as an important factor as being closest to the equator. We can't launch in foreign countries, so Florida will have to do.

Answer 3

Actually, launching from Florida (closer to the equator than Colorado) gives shuttles more velocity due to the Earth's rotational speed there. So less fuel would be needed in Florida for the same weight vehicle to reach the same velocity at the same altitude.

A side benefit is that pieces of things wouldn't land on populated areas. BTW the Russian "Cape Canaverals" (Turyatam and Baikonour) are deep in the Asian continent and debris from failed launches often does end up on the ground there.

Answer 4

Wouldn't make enough difference to matter, and there's more advantage in being that much closer to the Equator. That way, the earth's rotation gives you an extra kick that you don't get farther north. As already stated, the oceans on both sides give dead rockets a place to go, too.

We also launch a lot of spacecraft from Vandenberg Air Force Base in southern California.

What you ought to be asking is why we don't launch small spacecraft from beneath a large airplane like the B-52 flying at, say, ten miles altitude. That _would_ make sense, but NASA hasn't liked the idea for any number of reasons.

Answer 5

No, it doesn't change the fuel consumption much at all.

The big issues are proximity to the equator (to get a boost from Earths rotation) and range safety. If you're going to launch, you need to make sure the debris from a failed launch isn't going to land on anybody.

From Kennedy, the permissible launch azimuths are set by Newfoundland and Bermuda to the north, and Brazil and the islands in the eastern Carribbean to the south. The U.S.A. launches polar orbit satellites more-or-less due south from Vandenberg AFB in California. The next land south from there is Antarctica.

NASA may not launch things from aircraft, but others do. Look up the Pegasus launch system, air-launched from a refurbished L-1011 airliner.

Answer 6

To get to orbit, you need an altitude of at least 200 km. Colorado is maybe 2 km higher than Cape Canaveral. The difference in elevation is insignificant.

However, you need more than height to make orbit. You need speed. The closer you get to the equator, the more of a "free ride" you get from the Earth's rotation. The further north your launch site, the more energy you need to expend to get to orbit.

This being the case, launching from Florida makes better sense than Colorado.

Answer 7

also, the place where they launch is pretty far from where they work on the shuttle and a long trip has to be made moving the shuttle to the launch site. in florida, it's all flat so it's easy.

Answer 8

the value of fuel does not compare to the value of human life.

if anything goes wrong mid air over land then the debris could fall on people and kill them, or their house, car, roads, power lines, dogs ect ect ect.

also, rockets usually drop their auxiliary fuel tanks while over the ocean so that the rocket is light and more efficient. the sooner the better (usually) and better over water than not.