Launch Directions
Philip Chien (kc4yer@amsat.org)
Sun, 7 Apr 1996 12:49:53 -0400
Dycar2@aol.com asks:
>Would appreciate someone sending me a list of future launches that might be
>headed to the west coast of Florida (near Sarasota), date of launch,
>approximate time it would pass over Sarasota.
I'm hoping that this is a honest question, and not just a stupid jerk
trying to troll the seesat listserver. Understandably with an aol.com
address I'm suspcious, but hoping to educate somebody ...
Launches do _NOT_ head towards the west coast of Florida, so the entire
schedule is -
(empty space)
It's possible to see launches from the Kennedy Space Center from the West
coast of Florida if you know where and when to look, night launches are
somewhat easier to find.
For safety reasons it should be obvious that you DO NOT want to launch a
satellite over land while the launch vehicle is in powered flight, in case
there's an accident. There are small exceptions to this rule, which
involved very small risks (e.g. Newfoundland at the end of propulsion for
high inclination shuttle missions, a corridor over Africa which most US
launch vehicles fly through, etc.)
This group is primarily concerned with viewing satellites which are already
in orbit, which are seen primarily as star-like objects passing across the
sky. And there are plenty of those viewable from any reasonably dark
location.
Philip Chien, Earth News - space writer and consultant PCHIEN@IDS.NET
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Roger, go at throttle up CHR$(32) the final frontier