January 16, 2010

  • Question 219 – Why Does Boeing Launch from the Equator?

    Dear Robert,
    I can't praise you and Dr. Bennett enough for your Galileo Was Wrong: The Church Was Right. It's been one of the most influential works in my life, a real eye-opener which I loved so much, even if I can't understand all the science involved. My question for you is about rockets launched eastward in order to get a boost from the alleged Earth's rotation. I know you commented on this topic before.
    In your reply to the a-centrist who raised the subject back in 2002-2003, posted in the file I found here: http://ldolphin.org/geocentricity/Aspects.pdf you stated, basically, that the Universe's rotation can account for every force and effect the a-centrists attribute to a rotating Earth. This I can understand. Your subsequent reply to Question 38, though, left me confused. Could you please explain once again?


    Moreover, why does Boeing - here: http://www.boeing.com/defense-space/space/sealaunch/index.html and here: http://www.sea-launch.com/why_sea_launch.htm still tout its Sea Launch platform as giving advantages because of its equatorial position? To summarize: do rockets get a boost from the rotating Universe or not? That's my doubt. One last thing: since I purchased GWWTCWR in cd-rom form, I was wondering whether it has now been replaced by the dvd "An Introduction to Geocentrism". Are there any differences with
    the content of the cd-rom?

    Thank you very much for your time, and for your dedication to spreading the Truth taught by the Catholic Church. I regard you as a friend.

    My best wishes for 2010,
    sincerely

    Paolo Melotti 
     

    R. Sungenis: Paolo, for those reading this post, here is what Boeing says:

     

    "Sea Launch, the world's only ocean-based launch services company, provides commercial satellite customers the most direct and cost-effective route to geosynchronus transfer orbit. From its equatorial launch site, the robust Sea Launch rocket can lift a heavier spacecraft mass or place a payload into a higher perigee, helping satellite operators to attain a longer satellite service capability. The Sea Launch web site is located at http://www.sea-launch.com"

    "Our equatorial launch site provides the most direct route to orbit, offering maximum lift capacity for increased payload mass or extended spacecraft life."

     

    The advantage to having an equator-based launch point is that the centrifugal force at the equator is greater than at the North Pole, and this would be true whether we are speaking of a rotating Earth in a fixed universe or a fixed Earth in a rotating universe, since all the forces would be the same in either senario. This goes back to the "equitorial bulge" that we cover in Galileo Was Wrong. If you remember in the Introduction we quote Arthur Eddington (Einstein colleague) saying: "The bulge of the Earth's equator may be attributed indifferently to the Earth's rotation or to the outward pull of the centrifugal foce introduced when the Earth is regarded as non-rotating" (Space, Time and Gravitation, p. 41). In other words, in the geocentric model, the rotating universe is creating a centrifugal force upon the fixed earth, and this force will be greatest at the point where the Earth's circumferance is the greatest, namely, at the equator. So, a rocket launched from the equator can take advantage of the centrifugal force and thus allow the rocket to carry more payload for the same fuel. Also, when Boeing speaks of "the most direct route to orbit" of a geosynchronous satellite, what they mean is that since the radius of the Earth is 4000 miles, this means that a rocket launched from the equator to the satellite will have about 4000 less miles to travel than one launched from the North Pole, since geosynchronous satellites are all in orbit directly over the equator, not the North Pole.