orbit

Venus Express – The Last Spacecraft to Orbit the Planet

After space programs focused on human flight in low orbit and Mars, Venus was often overlooked. In 2005 however, European Mission Venus Express entered orbit. Venus was confirmed as being an Earth-like world with dry conditions and past oceans; furthermore, there was evidence of past oceanic circulation patterns as well as a double atmospheric vortex […]

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Spacecraft in Orbit

As in throwing something, satellites are launched by rocket to enter their orbit around Earth, like any object being launched from the ground. But unlike its trajectory when being released directly, their paths follow curves rather than straight paths. Satellites in high orbit offer scientists stunning pictures of our planet and solar system. At the

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Spacecraft in Orbit

Spacecraft in orbit serve as our entryway into our solar system, galaxy and beyond. They carry instruments ranging from cameras and telescopes to radar and spectrometers – offering access to information in multiple dimensions. To achieve orbit, a rocket must travel high above most of Earth’s atmosphere in an elliptical path around our planet –

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Spacecraft in Orbit

When you look up at night and see an arcing trail of light arcing across the sky, those are spacecraft in orbit. Scientists figured out their orbits long before humans ventured into space travel. Orbits are circular paths followed by satellites, asteroids and planets around Earth under control of gravity. Spacecraft Spacecraft are vehicles or

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New Spacecraft to Mercury – First Flyby of the Solar System’s Closest Planet

On 1 October, the European Space Agency and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s bepiColombo mission will make its initial flyby of Mercury to gather images for scientists who anticipate starting its main mission sometime between 2025-2027. Mercury can teach us a great deal about how rocky, Earth-like planets form. But before we can glean any insights

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Spacecraft Dynamics

Spacecraft dynamics is the subfield of celestial mechanics which studies human-created objects’ movements through space. It encompasses calculations, refinement and planning for such bodies such as spacecraft or satellites. Spacecraft Dynamics block computes position, velocity and attitude over time of six degree-of-freedom rigid-body systems with six degrees-of-freedom rigid bodies. Mass tab allows specifying an initial

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