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Orbital decay is a gradual decrease of the distance between two orbiting bodies at their closest approach (the periapsis) over many orbital periods.These orbiting bodies can be a planet and its satellite, a star and any object orbiting it, or components of any binary system.
Inasmuch as they provide opportunities for telling stories of isolated populations with diverse cultures, space habitats serve the same function in space that islands serve on Earth in earlier speculative fiction, [3] though some science fiction works such as the TV series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Babylon 5 take the opposite approach of ...
Every object in a 2-body ballistic trajectory has a constant specific orbital energy equal to the sum of its specific kinetic and specific potential energy: = = =, where = is the standard gravitational parameter of the massive body with mass , and is the radial distance from its center. As an object in an escape trajectory moves outward, its ...
This energy gained by the object comes from its orbital energy and/or rotational energy, so over time in a two-body system, the initial elliptical orbit decays into a circular orbit (tidal circularization) and the rotational periods of the two bodies adjust towards matching the orbital period (tidal locking). Sustained tidal heating occurs when ...
Science in science fiction is the study or of how science is portrayed in works of science fiction, including novels, stories, and films. It covers a large range of topics. Hard science fiction is based on engineering or the "hard" sciences (for example, physics, astronomy, or chemistry).
Science fiction (sometimes shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel universes, and extraterrestrial life.
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. Compared with the potential energy at the surface, which is −62.6 MJ/kg., the extra potential energy is 3.4 MJ/kg, and the total extra energy is 33.0 MJ/kg.
Most extrasolar planets in fiction are similar to Earth—referred to in the Star Trek franchise as Class M planets—and serve only as settings for the narrative. [1] [2] One reason for this, writes Stephen L. Gillett [Wikidata] in The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy, is to enable satire. [3]