Sunday, April 15, 2018

The launch of an Atlas V rocket while flying over the Florida coast yesterday



Interestingly, orbital boosters always turn east, in order to make use of Earth's rotational speed. That extra 400+ meters/sec helps save fuel, and makes it easy for the booster to sync its orbit with the ISS, or to help establish a pro-grade orbit (in case of a satellite launch). Pro-grade means the orbit is established in the same direction as Earth's rotation. The majority of all orbits are pro-grade.

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