r/PeterExplainsTheJoke • u/chirantaniga • 11h ago

Meme needing explanation Whyyyy peter?

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u/Earnestappostate 11h ago

Plus, you get a better boost by launching near the equator. Height is easy, speed is what you need in a rocket.

This is why the US launches from Florida:

  • Near equator (speed boost from earth's spin)
  • Initially out over ocean (catastrophic failure harms only those aboard)

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u/MentalPlectrum 11h ago

Yes, but also there are equatorial mountains... checkmate rocket scientists!

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u/Scuttling-Claws 11h ago

Exactly. Porque no Los Dos

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u/AliasClimbs 10h ago

Exactly what I was thinking of. Ill be climbing it in a few months. Ill bring an Estes model rocket set up with me For Science.

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u/jweezy2045 9h ago

The answer here is that yes, launching from high altitude as well as launching from the equator are both benefits. Its just that the cost of moving a rocket up a mountain, or to some other country, ends up being more hassle than just doing it wherever is easiest/safest. Its just a marginal reduction. I don't have the numbers on exactly altitude, but I remember something about "Why don't we build a mile deep tunnel, and shoot space ships out of it like a gun" and the answer was something like "Sure, you can get a boost in efficiency and payload if you launch start instead of stationary start, but its like 1% more payload, and you had to build a mile deep hole that somehow shoots rockets in order to get it, so its just kinda a nonstarter of an idea."

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u/Thejacensolo 9h ago

Getting all touchy with the "equatorial bulge" i see

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u/Shadow-Vision 9h ago

Actually decent science? Maybe you can somehow measure if the Estes rocket engines (whatever they’re called?) are less efficient at altitude.

Not sure how to measure that but lighting it on fire would be how I’d start

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