this post was submitted on 26 Aug 2026
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Stopping all fediverse activities. Good bye.
Absolutely stupid indisriminate bans by mods on various instances make it clear to me lemmy and fediverse does not want content.
if I ever get back to fediverse It would be on my own instance as its clear to me nothing short of that is going to work.
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I dunno if this is so obvious that nobody has mentioned it, but they launch near the equator because that is where the earth spins the fastest, and the rocket is already loaded up with a proportional amount of angular momentum to carry into space with it. Therefore, less fuel is required to get the rocket into space.
So why don't they launch from Mount Chimborazo (a tall mountain near the equator, and the furthest point on Earth's surface from its center), then? Checkmate, atheists! \s
Another important thing is where you launch over. Most launch sites are close to the ocean so that any discarded boosters dont land on cities or towns, or in case something goes wrong during launch and the rocket falls back to earth like a bomb.
This all is meaningless if you're China, because China doesnt give a shit and will launch directly over small villages (https://spacenews.com/china-launches-sino-french-astrophysics-satellite-debris-falls-over-populated-area/)
In addition to being on the wrong (i.e., uprange) side of a continent, Mount Chimborazo is also in freakin' Ecuador (which is not exactly known for its aerospace industry), is 30 km from the nearest town, is covered in glaciers, and -- just for shits 'n giggles -- is an active stratovolcano. My question was very much tongue-in-cheek.
From the article.
And multiple times have either failed to do that, or the people did not listen. Causing fatalities.
Mostly true. Not for polar orbit launches, where you have to expend propellant to cancel out that angular momentum. For that you want a northern or southern launch site with a clear zone to the north or south.