Space Transportation - mmmt_transportation.pdf - Moon Society

By Peter Kokh
When the idea of using an Earth-captive virtual first stage e.g. a spaceship-carrying rocket-powered dolly
accelerating along a track up the western slope of some convenient mountain, first was published, I’m not sure. I first
saw the idea dramatically illustrated in the early 50s film “When Worlds Collide.” The sight of that large streamlined
spaceship rocket-ing up that long slide and then out into space, bound for a planet around a star that would shortly
swallow a vaporized Earth whole, is hard to forget. Men have dreamed of reaching space in this fashion for a long
time. The ideal mountain, of course, is not on Earth at all, but on Mars, Pavonis Mons. But let’s take a look at what we
have here on Earth.
We are all familiar with the advantages of launching Eastward from low latitudes, as close to the equator as
possible, to get aboost from the Earth’s own angular momentum as it rotates on its axis. The maximum boost, at the
equator, is 1,037.9 mph (1670.25 kph) = circumference of the Earth divided by 24 hours in the day. This boost
diminishes as you move away from the equator to the north or south. The percentage of available boost at any latitude
is given by the cosine of the latitude degree. For example, Cape Canaveral, Florida lies at at 28° N. The cosine of 28° is
0.88295 which gives the percentage [88.29%] of the boost available at the equator, or 916 mph.
We are also, most of us, aware of the penalty, in the form of drag, incurred by launching through a thick
atmosphere. If we could launch not only from on or near the equator, but from high altitude as well, launch efficiency
would be maximized (translatable into higher altitude, larger payload, or both).
Early ‘50s science fiction writers almost universally imagined that White Sands, New Mexico would be the
major gateway to space. Eventually NASA decided for political, military, and, Oh Yes, range safety reasons that this
country’s major spaceport would be along Florida’s Atlantic coast. But Wernher Von Braun, the make-it-happen guru
of modern spaceflight, actually had had a better idea when he proposed that the World spaceport be located on a high
mountain plateau in central New Guinea, 5° N. Von Braun, of course, was a multistage rocket man, and the idea of
using an Earth-captive virtual first stage in the form of a mountain-slope climbing rocket sled dolly would have meant
turning over an important part of launch operations to a separate team of scientists and contractors.
While the rocket sled idea remains “a path not chosen,” prime fodder for the writer of “what if” alternate
histories, the idea is essentially sound. Without discussing the technical and engineering features and merits of such a
space-hip launch track, let’s take a look at just what actual terrestrial mountains might make the final cut. Here is our
short list of the top four, with some comments. We have them listed in order of their summit heights, even though a
launch track might not reach it.
Mt. Cayambe, Ecuador
19,160 ft., 0° 40 miles NE of Quito, and 200 miles NE of the major Pacific coast seaport metropolis of
Guayaquil. In the Andes, Cayambe is the only mountain on our list with neighboring peaks that might do just as well.
The other three (Cameroon, Kenya, and Kinabalu) are stand-alone massifs.
Range Safety and clearance: best clearance is to the north for polar launches, for which Cayambe offers no
advantage. 2,000 miles East to the Atlantic over the sparsely populated north Amazon basin.
Mt. Kenya, Kenya
17,040 ft., 0°. An extinct volcano with a beautiful and classic graduated slope. 300 some miles NW of the
Indian Ocean port of Mombassa with a railroad connection. 100 mi. NNE of Nairobi and its major airport. The summit
is sacred to some Kenyan tribes.
Range Safety and clearance: 300 miles west of the Indian Ocean coast (in southern Somalia) over sparsely
populated terrain.
Mt. Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia
13,455 ft., 6+°N. Near the north east tip of the great island of Borneo. About 40 miles ENE of the South China
Sea port of Kota Kinabalu, and 80 miles WNW of the Sulu Sea port of Sandakan. About 100 miles S of the southern tip
of the Philippine island of Palawan.
Range Safety and clearance: 70 miles to open water to the East for eastward launches.
Mt. Cameroon, Cameroon 4.2°N
13,353 ft., 4+°N. 60 miles from the border with Nigeria, 10 mi N of the port of Buea (former capital of the
former British Cameroons), and 50 miles WNW of the major port city of Douala. The western slope is subject to
torrential rains.
Range Safety and clearance: Open water 25 miles to the south for southward launches only, a major drawback.
Some 2,000 miles from the East African coast (in Somalia).
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