Another report by RS&H Aerospace & Defense (http://www.rsandh.com)
Suborbital adventure space travel (space tourism) companies will have numerous choices
regarding their launch location. In many cases, the selected location will influence the long term
viability of the enterprise because it may or may not provide an enhanced ground-based or
flight-based experience. Potentially, these launch companies could follow the cruise ship
example and change sites with the seasons in order to provide their passengers with the most
beautiful or thrilling space experience. The quality of the space experience at a given location is
influenced by several factors including the time of day, local terrain or geological features, the
presence of natural phenomena (ex: Northern Lights) and local terrestrial entertainment. This
paper examines what types of characteristics could provide such enterprise enhancing
capabilities and surveys several sites for their ability to deliver them.
Natural Phenomenon
Aurora: The Northern Lights, also called Aurora Borealis, is a variety of Aurora Polaris, a
type of electromagnetic storm caused by the collision of charged particles, like electrons, with
atoms in Earth’s atmosphere. The other variety of Aurora Polaris is called Aurora Australis.
The Northern Lights occur in the northern hemisphere, such as Alaska, Canada, Britain, etc.
The Aurora Australis is mostly centered around the continent of Australia. A space tourist
could see several different lights outside the window on the earth’s horizon, though some
colors are more often associated with particular regions.
Aurora Borealis from Space Shuttle
Lightning Storms from Space: Lightning storms are an incredible sight to behold from the
ground. By some accounts, they are just as incredible from space. If flight schedules are
quick enough, this could be a potential attraction for space tourism, especially since there are
several places that are more prone to lightning storms, such as the southwest and southeast
United States The frequent occurrence of lightning in these areas increases the chances of
witnessing this event and make the visual experience of the flight more thrilling.
Lightning as seen from Space
Natural Earth Features
Impact Craters: Large asteroid impact craters are often visible from space. Many are eroded
from millennia of wind and weather, while some are fresher being only several thousand
years old. Considering there are hundreds of impact craters visible on Earth’s surface, the
potential sites for launches and flights are many. They complement the space theme of the
flight.
Meteor Crater in Arizona
Erupting Volcanoes: Erupting volcanoes building new land are a unique vision from space.
Each volcanic eruption represents earth-changing events. There are thousands of volcanoes
but, there are only a few large eruptions a year. As such, the volcanoes that offer the best and
most consistent viewing options are ones that either are consistently erupting or who have
formed large craters or calderas such as Kilauea in Hawaii or Sakura-Jima in Japan. These
provide large vents frequently visible from space.
Straight Line of Volcanic Craters in Java
Grand Canyon: The Grand Canyon is one of the largest natural features on earth. Each year,
millions of people visit the canyon to revel in its magnificence. The view from space is a
very unique perspective that can really give a person some perspective of the sheer size of the
canyon. It is best to view the canyon at some angle, since viewing it from directly above will
lose some depth due to lack of shadowing on the canyon walls. Locating a launch site to take
advantage of this feature does limit options to the southwest.
Grand Canyon from Space (Left: good viewing angle; Right: at 58 miles, poor viewing
angle)
Large Reefs: The Great Barrier Reef sits along the eastern coast of Australia. The water here
is warm, clear, and teaming with life. The different colorations of the water due to differences
in depth is still visible hundreds of miles off of the earths surface. Also, if viewing the Great
Barrier Reef from space, a tourist may also view the whole eastern coast of Australia from
their window. The same can be said for several reefs. The reefs around the Florida Keys and
the Bahamas are also readily visible.
Great Barrier Reef
Earth Geography: Depending on the elevation of the flight, a traveler potentially could see the
Mediterranean, Italy, and several other countries at the same time. If looking north, the view
could include Northern Italy, the Alps, Switzerland and others. West: France, possibly Spain,
and parts of Africa. Launching from Sicily would provide an excellent vantage point to see
Africa on one side, Italy on the other. The boot of Italy may even be recognizable. There
could also be an advantage to see a country like Italy at night, when the cities are lit.
Europe and North Africa from Space
Man Made Earth Features
Great Wall of China: The Great Wall is one of the man-made objects on the Earth’s surface
that can be seen from space at an elevation of 100-200 miles. Made up of several different
individual walls, the Great Wall was built between the 5th and the 16th Century. It is the
world’s longest man-made structure, stretching over 4,000 miles.
Great Wall of China
Many other man made features are visible from space. But which ones will add to the space
flight experience? Space enthusiasts may want to view Cape Canaveral, where tens of launch
pads are visible. They may be interested in seeing the islands in the Persian Gulf now being
created. It may be possible to arrange the Spaceport infrastructure in such a way that the
combination of buildings, transport routes and landscape preparation creates a unique and
visible daytime or nighttime experience for the returning space traveler. Numerous
possibilities exist.
Download full report
Suborbital adventure space travel (space tourism) companies will have numerous choices
regarding their launch location. In many cases, the selected location will influence the long term
viability of the enterprise because it may or may not provide an enhanced ground-based or
flight-based experience. Potentially, these launch companies could follow the cruise ship
example and change sites with the seasons in order to provide their passengers with the most
beautiful or thrilling space experience. The quality of the space experience at a given location is
influenced by several factors including the time of day, local terrain or geological features, the
presence of natural phenomena (ex: Northern Lights) and local terrestrial entertainment. This
paper examines what types of characteristics could provide such enterprise enhancing
capabilities and surveys several sites for their ability to deliver them.
Natural Phenomenon
Aurora: The Northern Lights, also called Aurora Borealis, is a variety of Aurora Polaris, a
type of electromagnetic storm caused by the collision of charged particles, like electrons, with
atoms in Earth’s atmosphere. The other variety of Aurora Polaris is called Aurora Australis.
The Northern Lights occur in the northern hemisphere, such as Alaska, Canada, Britain, etc.
The Aurora Australis is mostly centered around the continent of Australia. A space tourist
could see several different lights outside the window on the earth’s horizon, though some
colors are more often associated with particular regions.
Lightning Storms from Space: Lightning storms are an incredible sight to behold from the
ground. By some accounts, they are just as incredible from space. If flight schedules are
quick enough, this could be a potential attraction for space tourism, especially since there are
several places that are more prone to lightning storms, such as the southwest and southeast
United States The frequent occurrence of lightning in these areas increases the chances of
witnessing this event and make the visual experience of the flight more thrilling.
Natural Earth Features
Impact Craters: Large asteroid impact craters are often visible from space. Many are eroded
from millennia of wind and weather, while some are fresher being only several thousand
years old. Considering there are hundreds of impact craters visible on Earth’s surface, the
potential sites for launches and flights are many. They complement the space theme of the
flight.
Erupting Volcanoes: Erupting volcanoes building new land are a unique vision from space.
Each volcanic eruption represents earth-changing events. There are thousands of volcanoes
but, there are only a few large eruptions a year. As such, the volcanoes that offer the best and
most consistent viewing options are ones that either are consistently erupting or who have
formed large craters or calderas such as Kilauea in Hawaii or Sakura-Jima in Japan. These
provide large vents frequently visible from space.
Grand Canyon: The Grand Canyon is one of the largest natural features on earth. Each year,
millions of people visit the canyon to revel in its magnificence. The view from space is a
very unique perspective that can really give a person some perspective of the sheer size of the
canyon. It is best to view the canyon at some angle, since viewing it from directly above will
lose some depth due to lack of shadowing on the canyon walls. Locating a launch site to take
advantage of this feature does limit options to the southwest.
angle)
Large Reefs: The Great Barrier Reef sits along the eastern coast of Australia. The water here
is warm, clear, and teaming with life. The different colorations of the water due to differences
in depth is still visible hundreds of miles off of the earths surface. Also, if viewing the Great
Barrier Reef from space, a tourist may also view the whole eastern coast of Australia from
their window. The same can be said for several reefs. The reefs around the Florida Keys and
the Bahamas are also readily visible.
Earth Geography: Depending on the elevation of the flight, a traveler potentially could see the
Mediterranean, Italy, and several other countries at the same time. If looking north, the view
could include Northern Italy, the Alps, Switzerland and others. West: France, possibly Spain,
and parts of Africa. Launching from Sicily would provide an excellent vantage point to see
Africa on one side, Italy on the other. The boot of Italy may even be recognizable. There
could also be an advantage to see a country like Italy at night, when the cities are lit.
Man Made Earth Features
Great Wall of China: The Great Wall is one of the man-made objects on the Earth’s surface
that can be seen from space at an elevation of 100-200 miles. Made up of several different
individual walls, the Great Wall was built between the 5th and the 16th Century. It is the
world’s longest man-made structure, stretching over 4,000 miles.
Many other man made features are visible from space. But which ones will add to the space
flight experience? Space enthusiasts may want to view Cape Canaveral, where tens of launch
pads are visible. They may be interested in seeing the islands in the Persian Gulf now being
created. It may be possible to arrange the Spaceport infrastructure in such a way that the
combination of buildings, transport routes and landscape preparation creates a unique and
visible daytime or nighttime experience for the returning space traveler. Numerous
possibilities exist.
Download full report
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