Blueskies wrote:
wrote in message
oups.com...

The weather at Vandenberg is often too cold to launch the
shuttle which may be a major reason why the facility there
was mothballed when the drometer problem was fully
appreciated. That, and there were problems with the
launch pad foundation.


What is too cold? Vandenburg doesn't get too cold...

After the Challenger disaster the minimum acceptable ambient
temperature for launch was raised. I do not recall the spec,
but Vandenberg has typical overnight lows below it for
a substantial part of the year. That was about the time
that the decision was made to mothball the South Vandenberg
shuttle facility. Now that heaters are used on the booster
joints that minimum is back down to where launching from
Vandenberg is feasible.


The primary reason that I heard was that the shuttle could not lift a
large enough payload into the polar orbit that was
the priamry mission for launches from Vandenburg...

Not likely. The shuttle payload has not been reduced since the
construction of the Vandeberg facility. However the types of
payloads permitted have been revised. The Shuttle is not allowed
to carry RPGs or other radioactive materials in any substantial
quantity and the there is now a smaller maximum permissible size
for solid boosters carried in the payload compartment.

Those restrictions probably preclude a number of military payloads.


The whole facility build was a boon to the central coast economy for
many years tho', and is used for delta launches
today...

The cross-track capability during re-entry was a design spec intended
to allow one-orbit shuttle missions to launch from South Vandenberg,
pop out a satellite and then land at Edwards.

--

FF