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by vincecate » Fri Jun 29, 2012 5:31 pm
psCargile wrote:I even wrote a simulator that runs as a Java applet. It can simulate orbits, space tethers, reentry heating and drag, and lots of stuff. Have you ever played around in Orbiter? http://orbit.medphys.ucl.ac.uk/ Space tethers . . . would those be the momentum exchange tethers?
I even wrote a simulator that runs as a Java applet. It can simulate orbits, space tethers, reentry heating and drag, and lots of stuff.
by psCargile » Fri Jun 29, 2012 5:12 pm
by psCargile » Fri Jun 29, 2012 5:04 pm
True, but weapons, especially kinetic energy weapons, want to do the opposite of "matching speed and position". They just need to attempt to occupy the same point in space at the same time as the target. There are literally an infinite number of possible orbits that would do that. Matching speed and position of the target is the last thing you would want to do with a kinetic energy weapon. It is the matching speed and position that takes all the time.
by vincecate » Thu Jun 28, 2012 9:11 pm
Reality Check wrote: The mathematics of such orbital mechanics is much more complex, but modern micro-computers can do such math nearly instantaneously.
by Reality Check » Thu Jun 28, 2012 8:47 pm
psCargile wrote: If you are 160 km above seal level, you are traveling at 7.8 km/s and circle the Earth once every 88 minutes. Slowing down will shrink your orbit causing you to reenter, and speeding up will put you into a higher orbit that will have a longer period and slower velocity. 500 km up gives a velocity of 7.6 km/s with a period of 95 minutes. At 10,000 km, that gives 5 km/s and a revolution of 5.8 hours..
by Reality Check » Thu Jun 28, 2012 8:27 pm
psCargile wrote: Even while traveling 17,500 miles per hour in low Earth orbit, getting to the ISS ( International Space Station )takes a few days of maneuvering using phasing orbits to match the speed and position of the target.
by widestaringeyes » Wed Jun 27, 2012 8:02 am
by psCargile » Tue Jun 26, 2012 2:06 pm
by Reality Check » Tue Jun 26, 2012 12:30 am
psCargile wrote:While spacebased munitions have the advantage of gravity boosted kinetic energy, they lack tactical immediacy due to each orbit having its own defined speed.
by psCargile » Mon Jun 25, 2012 6:51 pm
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