henry (11/05/82)
Actually, it is not quite correct to say "...NASA at one time considered polar shots from Canaveral...". What happened was that the Office of Mismanagement and Beancounting suggested that NASA should save money by doing polar launches from Canaveral, thus eliminating the need for Shuttle launch facilities at Vandenberg. The polar launches would have gone north, with the ET going into the Indian Ocean. There were just a few little problems: - Too much of the early path was over inhabited areas. - Some of said inhabited areas were in another country. - A space launch over the north pole follows a trajectory similar to some kinds of ICBM launch, and could get mistaken for one. Considering who's on the other side of the pole, such launches are considered MOST UNWISE. - The USAF did not like the idea of a launch path passing over the Soviet Union. Whatever moron at OMB suggested this wonderful notion was shouted down by loud objections from NASA, the USAF, and just about everyone else.