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Originally Posted by Nessal
Actually, if I'm correct, the shuttle actually doesn't travel straight up.
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You are mostly correct.
Initially, the Space Shuttle was pointed directly up. The shuttle would roll and this roll would place the rudder facing down while the shuttle would change angle from straight up to about 60 degrees in relation to the ground while still in our lower atmostphere. That angle continues to flatten out as it must in order to enter an orbital path.
In order to achieve orbit, it needs to achieve orbital velocity, but that velocity needs change from going straight up into a direction that is tangential to the earths surface.
Rocket science is just that...it's complicated. So many factors are taken into account. Getting to a high altitude quickly is important because of the drag the atmosphere can cause. So though it's not going straight up, it's still going at an angle that will minimize the time spent in the lower atmosphere where drag is an issue. It's one reason that they don't throttle up the engines until later in flight...because the shuttle couldn't take the pressure generated if you were at full throttle.
Virgin Galactic launches its suborbital spacecraft from beneath a plane going horizontally. I haven't seen a mission profile for these craft, but I'm pretty certain they stay fairly level...They just drop from the plane carrying them at high altitude, and are able to accelerate from there.
You can see how the shuttle arcs into space in this video: