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Constant-thrust and constant-acceleration trajectories both involve a spacecraft firing its engine continuously. In a constant-thrust trajectory, [5] the vehicle's acceleration increases during thrusting period, since the use of fuel decreases the vehicle mass. If, instead of constant thrust, the vehicle has constant acceleration, the engine ...
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.
When an engine thrust or propulsive force is present, Newton's laws still apply, but Kepler's laws are invalidated. When the thrust stops, the resulting orbit will be different but will once again be described by Kepler's laws which have been set out above. The three laws are: The orbit of every planet is an ellipse with the Sun at one of the foci.
A space rendezvous is a sequence of orbital maneuvers during which two spacecraft, one of which is often a space station, arrive at the same orbit and approach to a very close distance (e.g. within visual contact).
Thrust directed at an angle from vertical can reduce the effects of gravity loss. Thrust is a vector quantity, and the direction of the thrust has a large impact on the size of gravity losses. For instance, gravity loss on a rocket of mass m would reduce a 3mg thrust directed upward to an acceleration of 2g.
In orbital mechanics, low-thrust relative transfer is an orbital maneuver in which a chaser spacecraft covers a specific relative distance relative to the target spacecraft using continuous low-thrust system with specific impulse of the order of 4000-8000s. [1]
Delta-v (also known as "change in velocity"), symbolized as and pronounced /dɛltə viː/, as used in spacecraft flight dynamics, is a measure of the impulse per unit of spacecraft mass that is needed to perform a maneuver such as launching from or landing on a planet or moon, or an in-space orbital maneuver.
A fixed-wing aircraft propulsion system generates forward thrust when air is pushed in the direction opposite to flight. This can be done by different means such as the spinning blades of a propeller, the propelling jet of a jet engine, or by ejecting hot gases from a rocket engine. [4]