And, they used to fly heads down all the way to orbit, but the way they do it now is to actually roll back to heads up once in space, and they stay that way until main engine cut off. When flying the shuttle in orbitersim (and by flying, I mean watching the autopilot fly it) the heads down profile is much more aesthetically pleasing, but if you want realism, you have to let it make that roll and then just stare at the stars for a while.
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Originally Posted by joema
Why not just build the launch pad pointed the right direction? To save money the shuttle uses the old Saturn V pad. That was oriented south to facilitate alignment of the older guidance platform. However the shuttle flies (or used to fly) different inclinations. ISS is 52 degrees, whereas Hubble is 28 degrees (angle from the equator). Each one would require a different amount of roll so even if the pad was pointed toward the most common ascent inclination, some roll would still be necessary.
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Trivia time. Does anyone know why the pad (and KSC) are where they are? I mean, why not build the launch complex closer to the equator, maybe in puerto rico or something?