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However, the situation is in fact the opposite: by observing the orbits of spacecraft and the Moon, Earth's gravitational field can be determined quite accurately. The best estimate of Earth's mass is obtained by dividing the product GM as determined from the analysis of spacecraft orbit with a value for the gravitational constant G ...
A view of the Earth's geoid, as provided by EGM96. The Earth Gravitational Models (EGM) are a series of geopotential models of the Earth published by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA). They are used as the geoid reference in the World Geodetic System.
So, to find the acceleration due to gravity at sea level, substitute the values of the gravitational constant, G, the Earth's mass (in kilograms), m 1, and the Earth's radius (in metres), r, to obtain the value of g: [20]
Goddard Mars Model (GMM) 3 is a gravity map of the gravitational field on the planet Mars. [2] Three orbital craft over Mars, the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS), Mars Odyssey (ODY), and the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) assisted in the creation of the GMM 3 by the study of their orbital flight paths. [2]
Geodesy is the scientific discipline that deals with the measurement and representation of the earth, its gravitational field and geodynamic phenomena (polar motion, earth tides, and crustal motion) in three-dimensional, time-varying space. The geoid is essentially the figure of the Earth abstracted from its topographic features. It is an ...
For such problems, the rotation of the Earth would be immaterial unless variations with longitude are modeled. Also, the variation in gravity with altitude becomes important, especially for highly elliptical orbits. The Earth Gravitational Model 1996 contains 130,676 coefficients that refine the model of the Earth's gravitational field.
The energy required to reach Earth orbital velocity at an altitude of 600 km (370 mi) is about 36 MJ/kg, which is six times the energy needed merely to climb to the corresponding altitude. [93] The escape velocity required to pull free of Earth's gravitational field altogether and move into interplanetary space is about 11.2 km/s (25,100 mph).
The current standard for sensitive gravimeters are the superconducting gravimeters, which operate by suspending a superconducting niobium sphere in an extremely stable magnetic field; the current required to generate the magnetic field that suspends the niobium sphere is proportional to the strength of the Earth's gravitational acceleration. [7]