Astronauts on a space shuttle mission can see planet Earth below. They see
different parts of Earth as the shuttle goes around the planet. The shuttle is in
orbit above Earth. An orbit is a curved path going around something in space.
WHAT KINDS OF THINGS ORBIT IN SPACE?
The Moon orbits Earth. Space shuttles and artificial satellites also orbit Earth.
Spacecraft sent to explore distant planets sometimes go into orbit. A spacecraft
orbits a planet and takes pictures and measurements.
Everything in our solar system orbits around the Sun. All the planets orbit the Sun.
Pieces of rock called asteroids orbit the Sun. Balls of ice and rock called comets
orbit the Sun. Moons orbit planets, which orbit the Sun.
Our Sun is a star in the Milky Way Galaxy. A galaxy is a group of stars. All the stars
in the Milky Way orbit the center of the Galaxy.
HOW ARE ORBITS SHAPED?
Technically, an orbit could be shaped like a circle, but none ever is. Closed orbits
are always oval-shaped like a racetrack. Planets, asteroids, and comets in our
solar system have oval-shaped orbits. Another name for the oval shapes of orbits
is ellipse.
Some orbits are bigger ovals than others. The bigger the oval, the longer it takes
something to orbit the Sun. It takes Earth one year, or 365 days, to go around the
Sun. It takes Pluto 248 years to orbit the Sun. Pluto has an orbit that takes it very
far from the Sun.
Most comets orbit the Sun in huge oval paths. Sometimes the orbital paths of
these comets take them close to the Sun in the center of our solar system.
Sometimes their paths take them out to the edge of our solar system.
HOW DO SATELLITES ORBIT EARTH?
Weather satellites, communications satellites, and other types of satellites take
different paths around Earth. Some satellites orbit directly above Earth's equator.
The equator is an imaginary line around the middle of the planet. The orbits of
other satellites take them over the North and South poles.
Some communications satellites orbit at the same speed that Earth turns. They
look like they are not moving. A satellite has to move at just the right speed to
stay in its orbit above Earth.
WHAT KEEPS THINGS IN ORBIT?
The force of gravity holds satellites, moons, planets, and stars in orbit. Gravity is a
force that pulls two things together. When you throw a ball up in the air, Earth's
gravity pulls it back down to the ground. The bigger something is, the stronger is
its force of gravity.
The Sun is very large and its gravity pulls on planets and everything else in the
solar system. The Sun's gravity makes the planets travel in a curved path around
the Sun. Earth's gravity holds the Moon and artificial satellites in curved paths
around Earth.
When a spacecraft goes fast enough, it can overcome the pull of Earth's gravity.
Rockets can make spacecraft move fast enough to head toward distant planets.
Sometimes satellites in low orbits around Earth slow down. This happens when the
satellites brush against faint wisps of air. Earth's gravity pulls slow-moving
satellites down. The satellites fall toward Earth. Sometimes the satellites burn up
in the air. Sometimes the satellites crash into the ocean
ANSWERED BY- BISHAV ADHIKARI
FROM-NEPAL
The spaceship in 2001: A Space Odyssey is called Discovery One.
boaing delta 2
United States Spacecraft Discovery One
Julie Payette flew on the Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-96) in 1999 as a mission specialist.
The first person to leave a spaceship was Russian astronaut Alexei Leonov, who came from the Soviet Union. He made history by conducting the first spacewalk on March 18, 1965 during the Voskhod 2 mission.
The spaceship in 2001: A Space Odyssey is called Discovery One.
boaing delta 2
Discovery
spaceship blip
United States Spacecraft Discovery One
Discovery
Roberta Bondar flew on the Space Shuttle Discovery in 1992.
A bunch: Colombia, challenger, discovery, Atlantis, and enterprise which never got launched...
Sunita Williams went in the space shuttle Discovery and came back in Atlantis
The richest discovery in the history of mining in 1873 was by the Bonanza Kings.
Yes , the HAL 9000 computer did murder the crew of the spaceship Discovery .
wewewewewewew