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  2. Orbital mechanics - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orbital_mechanics

    From a circular orbit, thrust applied in a direction opposite to the satellite's motion changes the orbit to an elliptical one; the satellite will descend and reach the lowest orbital point (the periapse) at 180 degrees away from the firing point; then it will ascend back. The period of the resultant orbit will be less than that of the original ...

  3. Specific orbital energy - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Specific_orbital_energy

    The International Space Station has an orbital period of 91.74 minutes (5504 s), hence by Kepler's Third Law the semi-major axis of its orbit is 6,738 km. [citation needed] The specific orbital energy associated with this orbit is −29.6 MJ/kg: the potential energy is −59.2 MJ/kg, and the kinetic energy 29.6 MJ/kg.

  4. Characteristic energy - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Characteristic_energy

    The characteristic energy with respect to Sun was negative, and MAVEN – instead of heading to infinity – entered an elliptical orbit around the Sun. But the maximal velocity on the new orbit could be approximated to 33.5 km/s by assuming that it reached practical "infinity" at 3.5 km/s and that such Earth-bound "infinity" also moves with ...

  5. Orbital state vectors - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orbital_state_vectors

    The body does not actually have to be in orbit for its state vectors to determine its trajectory; it only has to move ballistically, i.e., solely under the effects of its own inertia and gravity. For example, it could be a spacecraft or missile in a suborbital trajectory. If other forces such as drag or thrust are significant, they must be ...

  6. Spacecraft flight dynamics - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spacecraft_flight_dynamics

    A space vehicle's flight is determined by application of Newton's second law of motion: =, where F is the vector sum of all forces exerted on the vehicle, m is its current mass, and a is the acceleration vector, the instantaneous rate of change of velocity (v), which in turn is the instantaneous rate of change of displacement.

  7. Orbit modeling - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orbit_modeling

    Orbit modeling is the process of creating mathematical models to simulate motion of a massive body as it moves in orbit around another massive body due to gravity. Other forces such as gravitational attraction from tertiary bodies, air resistance , solar pressure , or thrust from a propulsion system are typically modeled as secondary effects.

  8. Orbital maneuver - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orbital_maneuver

    A low energy transfer, or low energy trajectory, is a route in space which allows spacecraft to change orbits using very little fuel. [ 10 ] [ 11 ] These routes work in the Earth - Moon system and also in other systems, such as traveling between the satellites of Jupiter .

  9. Circular orbit - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circular_orbit

    the kinetic energy of the system is equal to the absolute value of the total energy; the potential energy of the system is equal to twice the total energy; The escape velocity from any distance is √ 2 times the speed in a circular orbit at that distance: the kinetic energy is twice as much, hence the total energy is zero. [citation needed]