Why do space shuttles take off from Florida? Wouldn't it make more sense to have a spot that is much less affected by weather?
by 
katydid15
ANSWERS: 5
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no, i think they do that because its almost surrounded by water. That way when they take off and drop the fuel pods and whatever else they dont take into space with them when they fall back to earth they fall into the water and they can recover them almost undamaged. I think thats the main reason why they do it there.
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Safety first, then the weather. Can you imagine the fatalities, if the space shuttle or space rocket, exploded in a populated area? Open spaces and ocean water are the safest locations for rockets and space shuttle take offs. The weather comes second in priority.
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I heard that it was because it's surrounded by water, and also because it's the closest safe point in the United States to the Equator which helps with orbiting trajectories and stuff.
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There are a couple of factors One is that Florida is the US state closest to the Equator (other than Hawaii). So, for equatorial orbits, launching from Florida uses less fuel that launching from other locations. There is also the safety factor (mostly oceans to catch debris) of Florida. There was a second shuttle launching facility built in California, but it was never used for various reasons. . http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vandenberg_AFB_Space_Launch_Complex_6
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hey, i think that's a really good question / point. maybe more aerospace engineers could be recruited to melborne than detroit? maybe nasa is like the rest of our federal government - snafu!!! or, maybe, it might have something to do with - THE DEVIL'S TRIANGLE!!!!! that last one is just a joke, i think.
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