SINE

Sometime I will take Aura to another launch site just to see it, because we are so close: There are launch sites for various nations’ space programs all around the world. The closest non-U.S. launch pad is the European “Ariane”space program one at the Guiana Space Centre. That's in Koarou, French Guiana  (lyrics). Here is a math test for any kids on this trip:

Roger Ressmeyer, Space Places (San Francisco: Collins Publications Inc., l990), p. l52:

"Launches here are normally scheduled for the evening, when the volatile tropical climate is most likely to be favorable for liftoff.

"Both local geography and the laws of physics make French Guiana an ideal launch site. Only one pad is necessary for both easterly geosynchronous trajectories and north-south polar orbits. Thousands of kilometers of open ocean to the east and north ensure that falling rocket stages won’t land in populated areas. In order to achieve the same polar and equatorial capabilities, the U.S. requires launch pads in both Florida and California.

The French Guiana site derives an added advantage from its proximity to the equator, where the rotational velocity of the earth’s surface imparts an extra push of almost 1,700 kilometers per hour to rockets headed eastward. The added boost means a given rocket can launch 10% more payload from French Guiana than from Cape Canaveral. To achieve those same benefits, the U.S. is planning a new launch facility in Hawaii, the state closest to the equator, and the only one that offers unobstructed trajectories toward both polar and equatorial orbits.

School daze (math problem)

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