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How does a satellite stay in orbit when it still encounters resistance?
Wiki User
∙ 14y ago
Objects in near Earth orbit experience some drag from the from from the atmosphere. (Mind you, it would take a very sensitive instrument to measure atmospheric pressure at 60 miles up.) The answer to the question is that given enough time, the drag will cause the satellite to lose so much momentum that it will crash into Earth. The most famous example of this was Skylab which was launched into orbit in 1973 and burned up in the atmosphere in 1979.
Wiki User
∙ 14y ago
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Why does objects stay in orbit?
Items, be they planets, moons or satellites, stay in orbit because they care carefully balanced between their inertia and the gravity of the primary object. They are freely falling - AROUND the primary.A satellite in low Earth orbit goes about 18,000 miles per hour in a direction tangent, or sideways, to the Earth's surface. Without gravity, it would fly off into space. It is continually falling toward the Earth. But because the satellite is moving sideways, by the time the satellite would have fallen to the ground, the satellite has already missed; it is along in its orbit, still falling, still traveling sideways to the Earth.
What is a satellite that stays in one location is called?
No satellites stays exactly still as they could not remain in orbit, but probably you are meaning a geostationary satellite. The orbit of these satellites matches the speed of the earth turning underneath them, so they remain above the same geographical point on the earth.
What is a natural satelite?
Technically, the moon (Luna) is the only "natural" satellite of the Earth (Terra). That is because it is the only one that was not put into orbit deliberately by sentient beings. If asteroids are retrieved from the asteroid belt and sent into orbit around the Earth (as is currently being planned by NASA), they would still not be considered "natural" sattelites. Only if a meteor is captured by the Earth's gravitational force and goes into a stable orbit (most unlikely) without having had its normal orbit altered, would it be considered "natural".
What space station is still in orbit?
The International Space Station is still in orbit, and is still being constructed.
Do satellite shine?
According to http://en.allexperts.com/q/Astronomy-1360/Observing-Satellite-Naked-eyes.htm, satellites shine because they reflect sunlight (presumably because they are made of shiny, reflective metal). They orbit high above the earth, so for 2-3 hours after sunset and before sunrise, the sun doesn't shine on the part of Earth you are standing on, but it still hits the satellite. This is when you are most likely to see a satellite.
Why does an orbiting object stay in orbit?
Items, be they planets, moons or satellites, stay in orbit because they care carefully balanced between their inertia and the gravity of the primary object. They are freely falling - AROUND the primary.A satellite in low Earth orbit goes about 18,000 miles per hour in a direction tangent, or sideways, to the Earth's surface. Without gravity, it would fly off into space. It is continually falling toward the Earth. But because the satellite is moving sideways, by the time the satellite would have fallen to the ground, the satellite has already missed; it is along in its orbit, still falling, still traveling sideways to the Earth.
Why does objects stay in orbit?
Items, be they planets, moons or satellites, stay in orbit because they care carefully balanced between their inertia and the gravity of the primary object. They are freely falling - AROUND the primary.A satellite in low Earth orbit goes about 18,000 miles per hour in a direction tangent, or sideways, to the Earth's surface. Without gravity, it would fly off into space. It is continually falling toward the Earth. But because the satellite is moving sideways, by the time the satellite would have fallen to the ground, the satellite has already missed; it is along in its orbit, still falling, still traveling sideways to the Earth.
A satellite is 200 miles above the earth It has a mass of 150 kg If the mass of the satellite were tripled?
You don't really have a question here. If the satellite is in orbit, the mass is essentially irrelevant; it wouldn't change the speed of the orbit or the altitude. A larger satellite mass WOULD HAVE required more fuel and more energy to LAUNCH it, but once in orbit, it will stay there. The only exception would be an exceptionally large, light satellite. There is still some minuscule traces of atmosphere at 200 miles, and a large, light satellite would be slowed by air friction much more than a small dense satellite would. This is what caused the "ECHO" satellite - essentially a silvered mylar balloon inflated in orbit as a primitive reflector comsat - to deorbit.
How old is vanguard1?
Vanguard 1 was the 4th artificial Earth satellite launched. It was placed in orbit on March 17, 1958. Communication was lost in 1964. It remains the oldest man-made satellite still in orbit and as such is the oldest piece of space junk orbiting Earth
What is a satellite that stays in one location is called?
No satellites stays exactly still as they could not remain in orbit, but probably you are meaning a geostationary satellite. The orbit of these satellites matches the speed of the earth turning underneath them, so they remain above the same geographical point on the earth.
What is expected to happen to satellites once their power is used up?
An artificial satellite's power is for its radio, not to maintain its orbit. Vanguard, the Navy satellite, ran out of power decades ago, but it had such a good orbit, it's still out there. Someday somebody will find it again, whirling around the Earth in silence.
What is the oldest piece of space debris still in orbit?
Vanguard 1, the second US satellite launched on March 17, 1958.
Why is it useful that a communications satellite takes one day to orbit the earth?
If an artificial satellite can be positioned so that its orbit is exactly circular, and exactly over the equator, and takes exactly one sidereal day to orbit the earth, then an observer on the earth sees the satellite hang perfectly motionless in the sky. This is a big help when you want to receive radio or TV from the satellite, and you're using a high-gain 'dish' antenna that has to stay pointed at the satellite. If the satellite moved in the sky, then you would need some complicated machinery to keep it always pointed in the right direction. But if the satellite appears motionless in the sky, then your dish never has to move ... just set it once and forget it. If the popular TV satellites moved in the sky, there's no way that all those little dishes on the houses could be equipped to track the satellite and still be economically feasible.
Geo space orbit?
It is a little strange that things in higher orbits actually travel more slowly than things in lower orbits. The Space Shuttle and the International Space Station both orbit in about 90 minutes, while the Moon - 250,000 miles away - take a whole month to orbit the earth. There is one kind of orbit that has a special name and a special purpose. A satellite that orbits at 22,300 miles high will orbit the Earth in 24 hours. You might notice that the Earth revolves around its axis in 24 hours. So a satellite at that altitude orbits the Earth at the same rate that the Earth turns, which means that the satellite is moving just as fast as the Earth does. So the satellite appears to stand still in the sky! We call this a geo-synchronous orbit. Geo, for Earth; synchronous, for "equal time". This is an especially handy orbit for things like communications satellites, which "hover" over the same spot on the equator.
What is the satellite called after launch?
It is still called a satellite.
What type of satellite orbits the Earth at the same rate and in the same direction as the planet?
A Geosynchronous or Geostationary satellite. The orbit period of a satellite will be longer the further it is away from the planet, so these have to be quite far away to match the rotation period of the earth. They orbit the earth once every 24 hours, so stay in the same apparent position when 'seen' from earth. This means that satellite dishes receiving signals from it can remain still, pointing in one direction rather than having to track it across the sky - a big advantage.
Is the orbit for a tv satellite called a polar orbit?
A polar orbit (as opposed to an equatorial orbit) passes over the poles, north and south. A low orbit is relatively close to the Earth (or other object being orbited), it might be a few hundred miles up.
