(no subject)

[bzarcher]

They want to turn Rickenbacker into a space port.

They want to turn -Rickenbacker- into a space port?

I can't decide if this is one of the most awesome things I've ever heard, or one of the most improbable.

Why couldn't they have done this when I was, like, 8? I'd happily have stowed away on an orbital shot back then and probably not been noticed. Now I weigh too much to get onto a rocket without compromising the payload.

I wonder what sort of launches they'd be doing. Would we be able to see them from here?

The idea of sitting on my back porch in a lawn chair and watching them launch things into space is really attractive and fascinating.

Comments

[remotesensing.livejournal.com]

Right now they're trying to get the manufacturing and landing facilities, *not* the launch operations.

Launch operations out of Rickenbacker could be problematic. You've got major jet airways in the airspace overhead, and a major population center not too far away for rockets to fall into....

[bzarcher.livejournal.com]

The article kept talking about...ah, I see. They're talking about SUB-orbital launches, too, and the orbiters being assembled here.

Problematic, sure, but I'm sure they're arguing it's no worse than Kennedy or, for that matter, some of the issues faced by CMH, or a larger airport like LaGuardia.

[dklegman.livejournal.com]

...Yeah, but aren't near-equatorial launches a lot more efficient?

Columbus is a great place for the assembly and logistical stuff, though.

[bzarcher.livejournal.com]

For sub-orbital? Not sure about that, honestly.

[alathaniel.livejournal.com]

I'd say it depends on the direction you're aiming more than the target altitude.

[remotesensing.livejournal.com]

It's suborbital, so the booster has to land somewhere.

Think about KLCK's location-- no real good place for one to land.

[alathaniel.livejournal.com]

I was only considering the momentum vectors. Add in the map, and nowhere in Ohio is a very good location for that sort of launch.

[bzarcher.livejournal.com]

I submit that if they guaranteed the boosters would hit Newark or Youngstown, most of the state wouldn't care.