JF Mezei wrote on Sun, 6 May 2018
15:47:17 -0400:

On 2018-05-06 15:19, Scott M. Kozel wrote:

So did they launch it to the south or to the west? Going west they
would incur a big energy penalty due to the rotation of the Earth.


Could they launch straight up, and once above some safe altitude, then
veer east? After having flown for X seconds, aren't the odds of an
explosion way down and thus considered safe to fly over land?


No.


or is the eastward speed from earth's rotation lost as you ascend
straight up (lost to atmospheric drag) ?


No. But 'launching straight up' is generally stupid, since it does
nothing insofar as getting you into orbit goes. The only reason they
start out largely straight up is to get above most of the atmosphere
quickly.


--
"Some people get lost in thought because it's such unfamiliar
territory."
--G. Behn