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Jonathan_Graehl comments on Politicians stymie human colonization of space to save make-work jobs - Less Wrong
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I thought Florida was closer to the equator than most of the US, which decreases the energy needed to achieve orbit. I've often wondered if this is significant; if so, then why can't we launch from some friendly equatorial country?
The Europeans do.
French Guyana is not a European-friendly equatorial country, it's an overseas region of France and therefore, the EU.
That's the correct reason for Florida. As I understand it, no equatorial country was considered stable and friendly enough to put the infrastructure there. And the US would have to then regularly transport a lot of equipment and personnel there. In contrast, putting mission control in Texas really was about politics. In particular, LBJ was from Texas. And while he was actually a fan of the space program (in some ways more so than Kennedy), he still wanted his home state to get something out of it.