Newsgroups: sci.space.shuttle
Path: utzoo!henry
From: henry@utzoo.uucp (Henry Spencer)
Subject: Re: Hawaii as a launching site
Message-ID: <1989Dec20.044754.1455@utzoo.uucp>
Organization: U of Toronto Zoology
References: <3831@orion.cf.uci.edu> <445@lot.ACA.MCC.COM>
Date: Wed, 20 Dec 89 04:47:54 GMT

In article <445@lot.ACA.MCC.COM> ables@lot.ACA.MCC.COM (King Ables) writes:
>I suspect much of why they use KSC is historical (all the stuff is there,
>it's already built and paid for, staffed, etc.).  Now *originally* why
>didn't they put it in Hawaii is another question.

Actually, a site on South Point was considered for what is now KSC, as was
Christmas Island.  The overwhelming argument against was simply that both
sites were thousands of miles from most of US industry, which would have
meant higher costs and transportation problems.  A secondary issue was the
lack of islands downrange for tracking stations.  Cape Canaveral already
had a lot of relevant support facilities, including tracking stations,
and was handy to both rail and barge transport.

(The missile test facilities on the Cape, in turn, were located there to
get a long clear flight path over water, with enough islands for tracking
stations, relatively convenient to water transport, with an existing Air
Force station nearby.)

>...In Hawaii, a path to orbit will cross over the United
>States or at least Canada, probably before orbit is achieved...
>Is orbital insertion achieved before the shuttle passes over Europe?

I'm not sure exactly where insertion occurs, but the debris "footprint"
for a disaster late in flight is a more relevant issue.  Remember that
an *early* abort leads to the orbiter landing in Europe, and the external
tank normally crashes in the Pacific or Indian Ocean depending on trajectory.
You bet your booties the footprint passes over Europe if the flight track
passes over Europe (which it does for high-inclination missions -- Africa
is downrange for more normal missions).
-- 
1755 EST, Dec 14, 1972:  human |     Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology
exploration of space terminates| uunet!attcan!utzoo!henry henry@zoo.toronto.edu