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Originally Posted by tofu
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Originally Posted by Doodler
Added: kind of a reach, but I wonder if the location didn't also have to do with its purpose being to support moon launches, and the 'default' launch path would be favorable to the orbital alignments needed for TLI.
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That's the *only* reason  If you launch from KSC and head due east, you're at the same inclination as the moon. At any other latitude (except the duplicate one in the southern hemisphere) a fuel expensive plane-change maneuver would be required for a trip to the moon. From KSC, you just wait for the moon to pass overhead, which it does once each day, and launch due east. Voila, you're in a parking orbit. |
Considering that Cape Canaveral was established as a rocket launch site in 1949, I don't think that the choice of site had anything to do with the Moon. Also, the Moon's inclination relative to Earth's equator varies over the course of a month from (roughly) 18 to 28 degrees. From what I recall of the Apollo launch windows, there were only a couple of days each month that were suitable.
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To get the ISS, the shuttle has to head a little farther north. I don't remember the exact inclination, but it's higher than the moon. Basically, the ISS's orbit is a compromise between what NASA and the Russian space agency can easily reach.
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Not so much a compromise but close to the only possible inclinations: flights from Baikonur have to have an inclination of at least 49 degrees (without a very expensive plane change), and KSC launches can only go up to 57 degrees (before going over land and compromising safety).