From: mailer-daemon@bof.de   
      
   gherbert@retro.com (George William Herbert) writes:   
      
   >>A typical rocekt goes almost straight up until it is out of the   
   >>atmpsphere then it turns toward horizontal as it accelerates   
   >>to orbital speed.   
      
   >By the way, this statement is wrong.  Real space launch start pitching   
   >over as soon as they clear the pad in some cases, and within a km or   
   >two of the ground in all cases.  The Space Shuttle, for example,   
   >is only above a 45 degree flight line for the first 115 seconds   
   >of flight, when it's about 25.4 miles altitude and downrange,   
   >shortly before SRB separation.  It's about 0.2 mile downrange   
   >by the time it reaches 1 mile altitude, and starts a roll   
   >maneuver as soon as it clears the pad and a pitch nosedown   
   >immediately after the roll maneuver is completed.   
      
   Interesting. I didn't know that. Thanks.   
      
   >Burning going straight up introduces excessive G loading and   
   >does not reduce the peak atmospheric drag pressure enough to   
   >compensate for it.   
      
   Maybe another reason is that on a bad day, with this flight profile,   
   things don't tend to drop back on the heads of the launch complex workforce.   
      
   best regards   
     Patrick   
      
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