This is an image of Newton’s Cannon. Given a high enough elevation, shooting a canon-ball at increasing velocity will cause it to travel further and further until it just goes into orbit, falling around the earth. That is what’s happening inside the ISS. It’s called free-fall - the same as Newton’s canon-ball. The ISS is falling toward... Continue Reading →
If you launched a satellite into low earth orbit and let it travel indefinitely without course corrections, how long would it take before it hits another object?
Okay, your question is how long until it hits another object also in low earth orbit, AKA space debris. In low Earth orbit you are not completely above the atmosphere, though it’s pretty thin up there. Most objects we place in orbit don’t need course corrections and likely succumb to the ever so slight air... Continue Reading →
Why is the International Space Station not in a circular orbit?
Why is the International Space Station not in a circular orbit? The International Space Station is in a circular orbit around a globe called Earth. But if you try to stretch the globe out to flat map it looks like a sine wave pattern. This flat earth map is probably why you’re thinking it’s not a circular... Continue Reading →
Is it possible to mitigate the extreme gravity of a large planet with an appropriate orbiting space station?
Would it be possible to orbit at just the right altitude and speed to make Jupiter’s gravity ‘feel’ like earths? In any orbit, around any planet, you’re going to be in micro-gravity. You will “feel” weightless because essentially you are falling around the planet in an orbital trajectory. Just like astronauts on the ISS float... Continue Reading →
Would it be possible to put a person on the moon for a prolonged period of time?
We are too heavily influenced by science fiction writers, movies and XBox to see it for what it is.
