02. Would it take exactly the same amount of time to get to space from California, Louisiana, New Jersey, the Arctic or South Africa? = (A K2S Question)

From The Space Library

Would the amount of time it takes to get to space from Earth be the same, no matter where the launch sites are located?

If you wanted to just 'get into space'—to an altitude of greater than 62 miles—then it would take exactly the same time from any location to just travel vertically upwards until 62 miles was reached. However, generally you would want to head for a particular location in space— for example, a space station in a certain orbit. This can take different times for some launch locations depending on where they were located on Earth (latitude) relative to the orbit location above Earth. This is because a launch site near the equator could reach an equatorial orbit—one that sits exactly above the equator—by launching along the equator. But for a different orbit such as one that orbits over the poles, the rocket would have to travel north or southwards as well which would take more time and energy. Other factors such as safety— launches do not occur over populated areas—can affect which orbits can be reached from a particular launch site.

---

Answer provided by Hazel McAndrews

Question and Answer extracted from the book Kids to Space - by Lonnie Schorer

Buy This Book Click here