12 Feb
2003
12 Feb
'03
2:22 p.m.
Chuck Hards wrote:
The space station is in a very inclined orbit, selected to accommodate the latitude of the Russian launch site.
Much like HST (and most of the early shuttle flights) is/were inclined 28 degrees which just happens to be the same as Canaveral's latitude. Funny how that works out that way. And if we look to the ESA, they launch from near the equator to put many of their payloads in geostationary orbits over the equator. So now I'm wondering why about 11 shuttle flights have been inclined 39 degrees and a few others 57 degrees. Any guesses out there? Patrick