What is the minimum distance for a satellite to orbit the Earth?
This one:Gravity Field and Steady-State Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE), launched by the ESA in 2009.It orbits (well, sort of ) at 250km, in order to get better data than ordinary low earth orbit satellites.But wait, doesn't this thing have a fired engine on its tail?Well, that is why it is “sort of” orbiting.Most low earth orbit satellites have engines too, but they only fire them up once a while, in order to gain a little bit of height, since there is some air drag on those orbits.Air drag at 250km is so huge that, this satellite have to keep it engine operating consistently to stay at this altitude.The only difference between this satellite and an airplane is that GOCE uses an ion thruster. They work at an extreme efficiency (well, air is still sort of rare compared to where normal jet planes fly…so you gotta save it). They require only xenon gas and electric power to work (which is much easier to acquire in space than fuel). The only downside is that they give very limited thrust, but if they work consistently, it is enough to tackle the air drag problem at 250km.Japan also has similar projects, for example this Super Low Altitude Test Satellite (Tsubame) , launched 2017:In fact it orbits even lower than GOCE. It can go as low as 180km, or even lower.But it is not yet the lowest orbiting satellite, since it is now slowly descending, and has not yet gone below GOCE. It is expected to break the record sometime in 2019.
What are the most common uses of artificial satellites?
The uses of Artificial satellites are:They are used for communication purpose.Carry instrument or passengers to perform experiments in space.For Weather Forecasting System.For GPS (Global Positioning System)I hope it helped, Thankyou!
How does an earth made satellite orbit our planet. Also How do we make this happen so accurately?
I am interested in this subject and cant find much information on it. Anybody have a link to a good place for info(better yet maybe a youtube video or something) That describes how this is all works.How did we figure this out? If it was just theory until fact how did the theorists calculate this? I am not an Einstein here so i need simple people explanations hehe.
Will a satellite drop down?
When you speak about something dropping down, you are talking about Earth’s gravity and Earth’s gravity isn’t same at all altitudes, it decreases with increase in altitude. In fact, gravity (gravitational force) is inversely proportional to square of the distance between the object and Earth’s center.Coming to Satellites, we can launch satellites at different orbital positions and at different altitudes. General cases being LEO, MEO and GEO meaning LEO Earth Orbits, Medium Earth Orbits and Geo Synchronous Earth Orbit respectively.If you have seen Astronauts floating in space, that is because of less gravity. Almost all satellites are launched at a higher altitude than ISS so they will experience even lesser force on them. So a Satellite will not drop down but will loose its orbital position unless controlled by the earth station to bring it back to the original orbit.So, NO the Satellite won’t drop down after it is successfully launched,
What's the lowest perigee that an earth orbiting artificial satellite has ever been in?
Many satellites have had orbits that were low enough to start feeling significant drag from the atmosphere. These satellites all gradually and then more quickly drop lower and lower and slow down enough to fall out of orbit. Most burn up in the atmosphere but some large and massive ones have parts hit the ground. The altitude at which the satellites quickly drop out of orbit due to drag varies with the solar cycle that causes the atmosphere to expand and contract, but it is usually around 200 km (125 miles) above the Earth’s surface.The European Space Agency GOCE mission operated for more than three years at an altitude of about 280 km where there is some atmosphere but not a lot. To counteract the drag from the atmosphere and maintain its altitude it used an ion engine thruster operated continuously. When it finally ran out of fuel, the drag caused to slowly and then quickly fall from orbit over the course of about 6 months.
If you could survive being at the center of the earth, would your "down" be towards the sun versus our down being the core of the earth?
This question seems to misappropriate the nature of gravity on Earth. Gravity does not radiate outward from a particular point from the earth’s core. This is because it is not uniformly distributed and its strength varies in different parts albeit minutely, due to the varied distribution of mass in the planet. The earth’s latest Geoid showing gravitational intensity clearly illustrates this.The gravity map model created by ESA’s Gravity Field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE) satellite. The reds are areas of higher gravity while the blues represent lower gravity.To answer your question, if you were to survive in the center of the earth’s core, your up will solely depend on which surface you are closest to, that is, the shallowest point you are from the surface will be your up. This is because at the earth’s core, gravity would not be pulling you down…just crushing you, from every direction, and in some areas, this begins much closer to the surface than others.To be fair though, the sun will be your up and down at least once every day due to the earth’s rotation. The down for the surface dwellers will always be towards the earth’s center.
Why is the surface of the Earth uneven?
For the same reason the cheese on your French onion soup is uneven - there’s a lot of energy underneath that’s affecting what’s going on on top.The inside of the Earth is hot - really hot and the crust is, well, a crust: a really, really thin (relatively) layer that floats on the not quite liquid, not quite solid mantle below. The heat inside pushes the mantle arround and that pushes the crust (which is not a single piece) in all differs dimensions. Where these pieces, called plates, crash together one slides under the other causing a mountain range to rise - the Alps are where Africa is crashing into Europe, the Himalayas are where India is crashing into Asia and the Rockies/Andes are where the Pacific is crashing into North/South America. Where the plates are moving apart new material oozes up from the mantle to fill the gap.At the same time, wind and water are eroding the Earth but not at the same rate. Some rocks are harder than others so they erode more slowly.Throw in volcanos, earthquakes and the occasional meteor strike and you get an uneven surface. Only, it’s not that uneven. In proportion to its size, the ups and downs of the Earth are less than the bumps on a basketball.