On 11/6/2010 10:51 AM, Val Kraut wrote:
" One thing people had better carefully consider regarding the operational
history of the Shuttle in regards to any future reusable launch vehicle is
how often launches were delayed due to either mechanical problems or
weather constraints ........scheduled launch dates could not be counted on
with any degree of certainty during the entire program.

There are many who believe that global warming - no matter what the cause -
will result in more extreme weather such as stronger more frequent
hurricanes and storms.

Many years back, I read the area around the Cape has more thunderstorms
on average per year than any other place in the US.
It might be time to rethink where we launch rockets from.
We do have a lot of islands out in the Pacific with better average
weather that could be turned into launch centers, the largest being Hawaii.

Pat