Talk:Rocket launch

Merge section into launch vehicle article

Would it make sense to merge most of the material currently in the launch vehicle section of this article into the launch vehicle article? We could use the {{Main | launch vehicle}} markup.... Sdsds 15:19, 29 March 2007 (UTC)

When launching a spacecraft to orbit, a "dogleg" is a guided, powered turn during ascent phase that causes a rocket's flight path to deviate from a "straight" path. A dogleg is necessary if the desired launch azimuth, to reach a desired orbital inclination, would take the ground track over land (or over a populated area, e.g. Russia usually does launch over land, but over unpopulated areas). Doglegs are undesirable due to extra onboard fuel required, causing heavier load, and a reduction of vehicle performance.

Ascent

The article doesn't say how much of the ascent of a rocket is generally considered to be part of the launch. Is there any concensus on that? Logically it might seem like the "launch" includes the part of the ascent that gets the vehicle away from the pad. Would it include the entire first stage burn? Second stage burn? Also, what about the other end of the time frame? Does launch start at T-0 in the count down, or somewhere before? (sdsds - talk) 04:01, 22 July 2007 (UTC)

@Sdsds: That's a very good question. I believe there is a real-world consensus that the launch phase of a spaceflight lasts from liftoff until the end of the (initial) powered flight phase. It certainly doesn't end right after liftoff. Imagine you go to see a rocket launch; you certainly wouldn't get up and leave for your car right after it clears the tower. It ends at last stage burnout for a suborbital flight, or at orbital insertion, or at last stage burnout for a direct ascent translunar or interplanetary flight without a parking orbit. And the time before T-0 (the vehicle's release and start of motion) is considered launch preparation, not part of the launch itself. JustinTime55 (talk) 22:04, 2 February 2016 (UTC)

@JustinTime55: Thanks JustinTime55 for you reply; I'm so glad to see that it has taken less than a decade to begin a conversation about this aspect of the article! ;-) First, I feel the "start class" assessment for this article is (still) correct. It needs a lot more sourcing of its content from readily-available and encyclopedic sources. I think it would be really good to start by finding someplace that distinguishes the "orbital launch" case, because it is special and deserves the special attention given to it in the article, and in the response you provide above. For an interesting case let's take an STS ascent. Does the launch end at MECO? At ET sep? After OMS-1? OMS-2? (sdsds - talk) 01:00, 8 February 2016 (UTC)

Notice I said orbital insertion, and that didn't occur until completion of the first OMS burn (sSince obviously the tank didn't achieve orbit.) I wasn't aware there were two different OMS burns; I assume the second was for circularization or other trim. I think going into that much detail is splitting hairs, though. I was just going for the macro effect; I think it's obviously wrong to consider launch as synonymous with "liftoff" or ending at tower-clear. This edit is what led me to this subject. We may have a bigger clarification problem than that: Liftoff is a disambiguation page which points to Takeoff, which has a "Rocket launch" section which points to this article as the main. As I said, I don't consider "launch" to be a synonym for "liftoff". JustinTime55 (talk) 17:22, 8 February 2016 (UTC)

launch success?

is there any way of finding out the success rate of rocket launches? i think it would be an interesting fact, and would be something important for people to know since these launches cost millions, if not billions, of dollars. 67.166.16.128 (talk) 03:57, 26 July 2008 (UTC)

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Move discussion in progress

There is a move discussion in progress on Talk:Launched which affects this page. Please participate on that page and not in this talk page section. Thank you. —RMCD bot 20:45, 29 March 2018 (UTC)