Editing 787: Orbiter

{{comic
| number    = 787
| date      = September 1, 2010
| title     = Orbiter
| image     = orbiter.png
| titletext = Normally, the Shuttle can't quite safely reach the orbital inclination required to pass over both those points from a Canaveral launch, but this is an alternate history in which either it launches from Vandenberg or everyone hates the Outer Banks.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic is about disputed territories and {{w|Low Earth orbit|low Earth orbits}}.

In the early days of manned spaceflight and also the {{w|Space Shuttle}} the communication to the {{w|Christopher C. Kraft Jr. Mission Control Center|mission control center}} in Houston required many ground stations all around the Earth. Each station could provide a link for only a few minutes and there were still gaps between them. After 1989/90, when the geostationary {{w|Tracking and data relay satellite|TDRS}} system became fully operational, these ground stations became obsolete.

In this comic [[Cueball]], the main controller at mission control, is planning the next check-in with the Space Shuttle (also called orbiter), which is set to occur at [https://www.google.com/maps/place/32%C2%B000'00.0%22N+35%C2%B030'00.0%22E/@-1.9607689,-49.5389658,3z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0x0!8m2!3d32!4d35.5?hl=en 32.0N 35.5E], approx 20 miles north-east of Jerusalem, over the hotly contested {{w|Israeli–Palestinian conflict|Israeli-Palestinian territories}}. Two off-screen characters start to dispute the ownership of this geographical location and, rather than becoming involved in an argument, Cueball decides to change the check-in location to [https://www.google.com/maps/place/35%C2%B012'00.0%22N+96%C2%B036'00.0%22W/@7.0800073,-69.7878505,3.25z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0x0!8m2!3d35.2!4d-96.6?hl=en 35.2N 96.6W], approximately 50 miles east of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, which he considers to be a neutral, non-disputed location. Unfortunately, another off-screen character, Frank, is being a dick, and he then starts to make the claim that {{w|Greer County, Texas|part of Oklahoma in fact should belong to Texas}}.

In the title text [[Randall]] incorrectly states that the orbiter would require a different orbit to reach both Palestine and Oklahoma, which cannot be achieved from a launch at {{w|Kennedy Space Center|Cape Canaveral}}. Thus, Randall proposes that the comic exists in an alternate history in which the Space Shuttles launch from {{w|Vandenberg Space Force Base|Vandenberg}}. This is a reference to the plans to launch shuttles from there before the {{w|Space Shuttle Challenger disaster|Challenger accident}} occurred. After Challenger was lost, the Vandenberg missions were scrapped and Cape Canaveral became the sole launch site for the Space Shuttle. Another possibility in this alternate history is that the rules forbidding orbital launches from Cape Canaveral to a northern direction don't exist, because nobody likes the {{w|Outer Banks}} (which would be in the flight path) and thus don't care about space debris falling on them.

Randall's incorrectness was discussed in many forums and probably based on the wrong assumption that the inclination cannot be higher than the latitude of the launch site (28° at Cape Canaveral). But this is only the optimal inclination, actually all shuttle launches to the {{w|Mir|Mir station}} and the {{w|International Space Station}} did reach an inclination of 51.6°, with the cost of some payload mass. And following the ISS at [http://heavens-above.com/orbit.aspx?satid=25544 Heavens above] when it moves over Israel to the south it will pass over Texas approximately an hour later. Nevertheless this orbit is not possible at the first orbit after a launch in Cape Canaveral.

The title text doesn't mention the region south of Iceland from the beginning of the comic. This is roughly at 64° North or less (if more south) and the distance from the highest possible orbital inclination of 57° from the Cape is 780 km. But even 1,000 km south of Iceland is only the Atlantic Ocean and the nearest landmass is still Iceland, which could explain this vague location.

==Transcript==
:Cueball: Okay, people. The orbiter is passing south of Iceland. The next scheduled check-in will be at 32.0N 35.5E, over the Palestinian territories.
:Off-screen character (left): You mean over the state of Palestine?
:Off-screen character (right): You mean over Israel?
:[Frameless beat panel.]
:Cueball: I've rescheduled the check-in for 35.2N 96.6W, over Oklahoma.
:Frank (off-screen, right): You mean occupied North Texas?
:Cueball: Dammit, Frank.

==Trivia==
*There was also a typo in the title text: It was written ''Vandenburg'' instead of ''Vandenberg''. This was later fixed.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Space]]