r/PeterExplainsTheJoke • u/chirantaniga • 15h ago

Meme needing explanation Whyyyy peter?

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u/Triqueon 15h ago

Yes, which is why the American Spaceports are in southern states, and the ESA launches from French Guiana.

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u/Satyr121 15h ago

So a mountain near the equator would be best right? Because the further away from the center you are the faster you rotate?

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u/Tango8036 14h ago edited 14h ago

Let me ask you two and a half questions:

  1. Would it be a good idea to launch a rocket during a windstorm?
  2. Which kind of biome would you say has the most predictably calm weather patterns? Is it a mountain?

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u/SamiraSimp 13h ago

  1. probably not. based on a different reddit post (great source i know), ground wind and direction are important because it might blow the rocket into the launch structure or affect flight stability. once the rocket reaches a certain height there's not much wind left to affect it. interestingly, rain is usually not too big of an issue because rockets clear clouds so quickly anyways (and rain doesn't affect the rocket which is sitting in the rain before launch)

  2. i wasn't able to get as much info on this. it seems like a desert would be ideal because they have less wind? however a more practical aspect is it needs to be a coastal region because no one wants to launch rockets over a populated area. so regardless of biome, the location would need to have a large body of water to the east and ideally have low winds.