28
votes
Would it take less thrust overall to put an object into higher orbit?
A slower orbital speed does not mean less energy. It means that a smaller fraction of the total energy is in kinetic form, but the sum of the kinetic and potential energy is greater.
Consider a ...
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10
votes
Would it take less thrust overall to put an object into higher orbit?
Would it take less thrust overall to put an object into higher orbit?
I think that you are confusing thrust with velocity. Thrust is the amount of engine force pushing on the vehicle, and will ...
- 5,287
10
votes
How much payload could the Falcon 9 send to geostationary orbit?
First, the Encyclopedia Britannica is wrong.
According to SpaceX themselves, F9 puts 8300kg into GTO, not GEO.
The difference is that GTO (Geostationary Transfer Orbit) is the step that comes before ...
- 20.8k
6
votes
Does the ISS still "need" to be at around 400 km?
Another point to add to BowlOfRed's answer is that the maximum certified altitude for the Soyuz spacecraft is 460 km (285 mi). By comparison, the highest Space Shuttle flight, STS-31, went to 621 km (...
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5
votes
Accepted
What is the total mass sent to orbit by SpaceX?
As of August 2024, SpaceX have cumulatively put approximately 4000 Tons into orbit.
Here are some visualizations:
This data was obtained by scraping the wikipedia pages for launch. Specifically this ...
- 20.8k
5
votes
What does 'Switch SCE to AUX' mean?
In addition to kim holder's answer, let me fill in some more technical details.
The three position SCE switch (NORMAL, OFF, AUX) does not select the power bus from which the SCE power module receives ...
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3
votes
Would it be possible today, in practice, to launch through the eye of a hurricane as portrayed in the 1969 space movie, "Marooned"?
update: It seems I can only address the "possible to launch" part, but not the "possible to fuel first" or "possible to move over a big hole for the exhaust first" part.
...
- 149k
2
votes
Would it take less thrust overall to put an object into higher orbit?
For this reason, it is useful to write things in the form of Specific orbital energy.
An object has two relevant forms of energy (with just classical mechanics):
The kinetic energy and the potential ...
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