Mike,
From first hand experience, I know that UCSB stands for "U Can Study Buzzed". And, it is still a good school! In short, aside from The Peninsula, I think SB is the greatest place on Earth. You'll have no problems getting a Real Estate boom in SB -- except that everyone there wants to keep the place a secret so it doesn't get LA-ized.
Of course there is no problem with Vandenberg. The problem is all of the towns east of there, don't want rockets flying overhead (in case of a crash, ala Long March and the Intelsat 708 fiasco). If this wasn't the land of the free and the brave, well, we might be able to launch east out of Vandenberg. Launching west out of Vandenberg puts you into a retrograde orbit. I can't think of anyone who has ever launched into a retrograde orbit -- so, not only are there no advantages, there is a big disadvantage -- cost:
Orbital velocity is about 7,000 meters per second. The spin of the Earth at Vandenberg gives you about 375 meters per second for free, if you launch east. If you launch west, you miss out on that free 375 meters per second. Same if you launch south, for a polar orbit. but polar orbits do have some redeeming qualities. Can't think of any for retrograde orbits, so, Vandenberg is, well, much less utilized!
Mr A
It has been a while since I posted. As with Readware (I assume) the Zenit took the wind out of me! |
