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A sub-orbital spaceflight is a spaceflight in which the spacecraft reaches outer space, but its trajectory intersects the surface of the gravitating body from which it was launched. Hence, it will not complete one orbital revolution, will not become an artificial satellite nor will it reach escape velocity .
The chart of orbitals (left) is arranged by increasing energy (see Madelung rule). Atomic orbits are functions of three variables (two angles, and the distance r from the nucleus). These images are faithful to the angular component of the orbital, but not entirely representative of the orbital as a whole.
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 a revolving body is the geometric plane in which its orbit lies.
It is also known as a suborbital track or subsatellite track, and is the vertical projection of the satellite's orbit onto the surface of the Earth (or whatever body the satellite is orbiting). [1] A satellite ground track may be thought of as a path along the Earth's surface that traces the movement of an imaginary line between the satellite ...
For the case of orbital transfer between non-coplanar orbits, the change-of-plane thrust must be made at the point where the orbital planes intersect (the "node"). As the objective is to change the direction of the velocity vector by an angle equal to the angle between the planes, almost all of this thrust should be made when the spacecraft is ...
Sub-orbital space flights, being at a much lower speed, do not generate anywhere near as much [further explanation needed] heat upon re-entry. Even if the orbiting objects are expendable, most [quantify] space authorities [example needed] are pushing toward controlled re-entries to minimize hazard to lives and property on the planet. [citation ...
Using, for example, the "mean anomaly" instead of "mean anomaly at epoch" means that the epoch time t must be specified as a seventh orbital element. Alternatively the "time of periapsis passage", T 0, can be specified in place of the typical epoch time. This removes the need to specify the mean anomaly at epoch, as it is assumed to be zero.
Inclined orbit: An orbit whose inclination in reference to the equatorial plane is not 0. Polar orbit: An orbit that passes above or nearly above both poles of the planet on each revolution. Therefore, it has an inclination of (or very close to) either 90 degrees or −90 degrees.