How do satellites stay in orbit without falling to Earth ......?

Question

How do satellites stay in orbit without falling to Earth ......?

Answer 1

By giving them enough speed, depending on the altitude of orbit (the heightof elevation of an object above sea level). The higher the altitude of orbit, the higher amount of speed needed.



If satellite loses orbital speed, especially if the orbit is low, gravity steps in and the spacecraft soon plunges to Earth.

Answer 2

Part of the answer lies in what some people have said here - that the satellite is actually "falling" all the time. This is because velocity is a vector. That means that it has not only speed, but direction too. A change in either component - speed or direction - leads to acceleration, in this case what is known as radial acceleration. Since the satellite is constantly moving in toward the center of the earth instead of flying off in a straight line, it is said to be falling, or accelerating toward the center. If you balance the pull of gravity perfectly so that the force only bends the path but does not pull the satellite in, you have an orbit. If you arrange it so that the satellite does not move in reference to a fixed point on the surface of the planet, you have a geosynchronous orbit.



However, the reality is that the orbits of all man-made satellites do eventually decay, and they all crash down sooner or later - usually on a period of 50 years or so.

Answer 3

I actual have a means of looking it (without dealing with the gravitational regulation and Earth's mass). My bench mark is the geostationary satellite tv for pc making a revolution each 24hours(a million day) and at approximately 40 two.3 Gm from Earth's middle. So with distant contraptions in Gm (=a million,000,000 m) and time in days a^3 / P² = 40 two.sixteen^3 = a million² = seventy 4,960 {this is going to be the consistent} a^3 = 74960 P² = [274.8P] ² ; a = 40 two.sixteen P^(2/3). Orbit distance = 2 TT(40 two.sixteen) = eighty 4.33 TT Gm velocity = eighty 4.33 TT / day {we are in a position to transform to handy contraptions later}. velocity = 2 TT a / P = 2 TT a / [a^(3/2) / 274.8] = 550 TT / ?a Gm/day that's the fee that the satellite tv for pc needs to stay in orbit at distance 'a' from middle; deduct Earth's Equatorial radius to get the top above. it relatively is recast right into a era equation. velocity = 2 TT a / P = 2 TT [40 two.16P^(2/3)] / P = eighty 4.33 TT / (cube root P) Gm/day {that's basically as an occasion, with constrained yet adequate accuracy. For accuracy placed the top values}

Answer 4

KenC, yo!, hikkileyeah, and nobody in general are all wrong; the other 3 are correct. It's not the weakness of gravity, it's the high speed with which the travel and the lack of air to slow them down. Without gravity, they'd just fling into space and never return--the orbit depends on a strong gravitaional pull.

Answer 5

They ARE falling to earth, all the time. It's just that they are moving so fast that the direction they are falling isn't going to hit the surface, but rather loops back to where the satellite started.

Answer 6

They have a certain amount of momentum which slows their descent, but they are actually falling all the time. They are just falling around in circles, like a marble if you drop it into a funnel. The forward progress of the marble keeps it travelling laterally, but the travel downwards keeps its speed high enough to keep it travelling laterally. Eventually it will fall, but not before tracing out large circles around the edge of the funnel. Gravity is comparable to that.



Good Luck!

Answer 7

Gravity!

Answer 8

there is a lot less gravity in the atmosphere so that they can stay in orbit

Answer 9

its a combination of gravity of the sun and the earth and the sophisticated software!! cheers to nature mixing with technology!

Answer 10

Their speed offsets the earth's gravity.

Answer 11

They are launched to an altitude where gravity has no or neglible effect.

Answer 12

because the gravity is so weak at that altitude.