Falling around the world: what an orbit is
Let’s start with a question that sounds like a trick. Your ship is in orbit around the Earth. A hundred kilometres up, engines off, everything quiet. So what’s holding it up there?
Nothing. Nothing at all is holding it up. Your ship is falling. It started falling the moment the engine went quiet, and it will keep falling as long as you leave it there. That isn’t something wrong with your orbit. That is your orbit.
Today on Orbital Radio, we’re falling around the world. By the end of this show, you’ll know what an orbit really is, and why your ship never comes down on its own. You’ll know the…
The skinny
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