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Some sub-orbital flights have been undertaken to test spacecraft and launch vehicles later intended for orbital spaceflight. Other vehicles are specifically designed only for sub-orbital flight; examples include crewed vehicles, such as the X-15 and SpaceShipTwo, and uncrewed ones, such as ICBMs and sounding rockets.
An orbital plane as viewed relative to a plane of reference. An orbital plane can also be seen in relative to conic sections, in which the orbital path is defined as the intersection between a plane and a cone. Parabolic (1) and hyperbolic (3) orbits are escape orbits, whereas elliptical and circular orbits (2) are captive. The orbital plane of ...
The orbital plane is ideally constant, but is usually subject to small perturbations caused by planetary oblateness and the presence of other bodies. The spacecraft's position in orbit is specified by the true anomaly, ν {\displaystyle \nu } , an angle measured from the periapsis, or for a circular orbit, from the ascending node or reference ...
Orbital inclination is the angle formed between the plane of an orbit and the equatorial plane of the Earth. The geographic latitudes covered by the ground track will range from –i to i, where i is the orbital inclination. [4] In other words, the greater the inclination of a satellite's orbit, the further north and south its ground track will ...
For example, the s orbitals (ℓ = 0) are spherically symmetric and have no nodal planes, whereas the p orbitals (ℓ = 1) have a single nodal plane between the lobes. The number of nodal spheres equals n-ℓ-1 , consistent with the restriction ℓ ≤ n-1 on the quantum numbers.
Orbital mechanics is a core discipline within space-mission design and control. Celestial mechanics treats more broadly the orbital dynamics of systems under the influence of gravity, including both spacecraft and natural astronomical bodies such as star systems, planets, moons, and comets.
An animation showing a low eccentricity orbit (near-circle, in red), and a high eccentricity orbit (ellipse, in purple). In celestial mechanics, an orbit (also known as orbital revolution) is the curved trajectory of an object [1] such as the trajectory of a planet around a star, or of a natural satellite around a planet, or of an artificial satellite around an object or position in space such ...
Spaceflight (or space flight) is an application of astronautics to fly objects, usually spacecraft, into or through outer space, either with or without humans on board.Most spaceflight is uncrewed and conducted mainly with spacecraft such as satellites in orbit around Earth, but also includes space probes for flights beyond Earth orbit.