Launch Azimuth, Orbital Inclination, Launch Site Latitude | Rocket Trajectories 6
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In this video we go
In this video we go over the relationship between launch azimuth, orbital inclination, and launch site latitude for rocket trajectories.
Launch azimuth is defined as the angle from the local north vector to the rocket flight path, measured clockwise. Launch sites will have constraints on their launch azimuth angles based on their surrounding geography. For example, at Cape Canaveral, you cannot launch north or west since the rocket would be flying over populated areas, therefore Cape Canaveral launches are restricted to launch azimuths between 35-120 degrees.
Similarly for Vandenberg Space Force Base, rockets cannot launch north or east, and the limit to the southeast makes sure that rockets don't fly directly over Los Angeles, but under the right lighting conditions the launches will still be visible from LA.
Recalling from linear algebra, we know we can represent a 2 dimensional plane with a 3 dimensional vector that is perpendicular to that plane. We can also think of this vector as the vector that is perpendicular to 2 linearly independent vectors that are lying on the 2 dimensional plane.
In our case here, those 2 vectors are the vector pointing from the center of the earth to the launch site, and the vector pointing to where the trajectory crosses over the equatorial plane (labeled as zero crossings), and the plane that they span together is the orbital plane!
Since the center of the orbit is the geometric center of the earth (assuming two body dynamics), no matter where you start on the surface of the Earth, you will always be crossing through the Earth’s equatorial plane, so those 2 vectors will always be defined, and will always define the orbit that the rocket is launching to!
Link to Space Engineering Podcast: Space Engineering Podcast Full Episodes
Link to Rocket Trajectories video series: Rocket Trajectories
#launchazimuth #rockettrajectories #rocketscience
Launch azimuth is defined as the angle from the local north vector to the rocket flight path, measured clockwise. Launch sites will have constraints on their launch azimuth angles based on their surrounding geography. For example, at Cape Canaveral, you cannot launch north or west since the rocket would be flying over populated areas, therefore Cape Canaveral launches are restricted to launch azimuths between 35-120 degrees.
Similarly for Vandenberg Space Force Base, rockets cannot launch north or east, and the limit to the southeast makes sure that rockets don't fly directly over Los Angeles, but under the right lighting conditions the launches will still be visible from LA.
Recalling from linear algebra, we know we can represent a 2 dimensional plane with a 3 dimensional vector that is perpendicular to that plane. We can also think of this vector as the vector that is perpendicular to 2 linearly independent vectors that are lying on the 2 dimensional plane.
In our case here, those 2 vectors are the vector pointing from the center of the earth to the launch site, and the vector pointing to where the trajectory crosses over the equatorial plane (labeled as zero crossings), and the plane that they span together is the orbital plane!
Since the center of the orbit is the geometric center of the earth (assuming two body dynamics), no matter where you start on the surface of the Earth, you will always be crossing through the Earth’s equatorial plane, so those 2 vectors will always be defined, and will always define the orbit that the rocket is launching to!
Link to Space Engineering Podcast: Space Engineering Podcast Full Episodes
Link to Rocket Trajectories video series: Rocket Trajectories
#launchazimuth #rockettrajectories #rocketscience
3 سال پیش
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