I have a question: When the Space Shuttle launches to the ISS, it has a 5-minute launch window. When the Space Shuttle launched this morning, it had a 62-minute launch window. During a recent launch which hauled iridium satellites into LEO, it had a 0.08-minute launch window. Please tell me if my logic follows: When a Shuttle goes to the ISS, it is usually hauling some cargo to an inclined orbit, thus needing a short launch window to ensure that enough propellant is available for the mission. When the Shuttle goes to the HST, it has a large launch window because it is not going into a higher inclined orbit. When Iridium satellites are being hauled into orbit, a limited amount of fuel is available. If the rocket is not launched at just the right time, there would be insufficient fuel for the rocket and its satellites to reach the required orbit. ------------------------------ Jonathan T. Wojack tlj18@juno.com 39.706d N 75.683d W http://www.angelfire.com/stars2/projectorion 5 hours behind UT (-5) ________________________________________________________________ GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO! Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less! Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/web/. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe from SeeSat-L by sending a message with 'unsubscribe' in the SUBJECT to SeeSat-L-request@lists.satellite.eu.org http://www.satellite.eu.org/seesat/seesatindex.html
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Mon Mar 04 2002 - 16:38:53 EST