"in" orbit, or "on" orbit ??
iand
Hi all,
It seems to me that not that long ago, people used to refer to things
being "in orbit" [around the earth]. Nowdays, the vernacular seems to be
"on orbit".
I was just wondering if anyone knew when the nomenclature changed, and
also why ?
After all, when you're *in* orbit, you're not actually *on* anything :)
Cheers
-- Ian Davies
Sydney, Australia
Frank Crary
In article <34CFD0...@ozemail.com.au>, iand <ia...@ozemail.com.au> wrote:
>It seems to me that not that long ago, people used to refer to things
>being "in orbit" [around the earth]. Nowdays, the vernacular seems to be
>"on orbit".
>I was just wondering if anyone knew when the nomenclature changed, and
>also why ?
Actually, the only person I've noticed using ``on orbit'' is myself,
and I believe it's grammatically incorrect. If you care, I got into
the habit as a reminder to myself when I was studying Russian, since
they use ``na'' rather than ``b'' to describe an object orbiting a
planet. (Neither of which translates well, but ``na'' is closer to
the English ``on'' and ``b'' closer to ``in''.)
Frank Crary
CU Boulder
Rich Hurd
The shuttle status reports also report the status of the orbiter as being "on
orbit" rather than "in orbit." I would liken it to being "on station" which
may also be grammatically incorrect but at least has an aire of consistency.
<s>
--
Richard Hurd
Member of Technical Staff
Lucent Technologies, Microelectronics Group, Allentown PA
Graham Nelson
In article <6aoolr$f...@lace.colorado.edu>, Frank Crary
<URL:mailto:fcr...@rintintin.Colorado.EDU> wrote:
> In article <34CFD0...@ozemail.com.au>, iand <ia...@ozemail.com.au> wrote:
> >It seems to me that not that long ago, people used to refer to things
> >being "in orbit" [around the earth]. Nowdays, the vernacular seems to be
> >"on orbit".
> >I was just wondering if anyone knew when the nomenclature changed, and
> >also why ?
>
> Actually, the only person I've noticed using ``on orbit'' is myself,
> and I believe it's grammatically incorrect. If you care, I got into
> the habit as a reminder to myself when I was studying Russian, since
> they use ``na'' rather than ``b'' to describe an object orbiting a
> planet. (Neither of which translates well, but ``na'' is closer to
> the English ``on'' and ``b'' closer to ``in''.)
The KSC Shuttle status reports give the location of orbiters
currently flying as "on orbit". I suppose the analogy would be
with "on station".
--
Graham Nelson | gra...@gnelson.demon.co.uk | Oxford, United Kingdom
Jonathan McDowell
Frank Crary (fcr...@rintintin.Colorado.EDU) wrote:
: Actually, the only person I've noticed using ``on orbit'' is myself,
: and I believe it's grammatically incorrect. If you care, I got into
No, I've heard lots of JSC folks talk about `on orbit'. I claim to
detect a nuance of meaning: `in orbit' can be applied to an inert
object and means that something is in orbit (duh). `on orbit'
is applied to active vehicles, particularly human-carrying spaceships,
and seems to carry the extra connotation of being in an operating mode that
is different from the launch or landing phases. Grammatically, it
seems to be an abbreviation of `[while] on [the] orbit[al phase of the
mission]'. Thus, [in orbit] is a dynamical state, while [on orbit]
is a state of mind :-).
Jonathan
William Wiesel
>It seems to me that not that long ago, people used to refer to things
>being "in orbit" [around the earth]. Nowdays, the vernacular seems to be
>"on orbit".
>I was just wondering if anyone knew when the nomenclature changed, and
>also why ?
>After all, when you're *in* orbit, you're not actually *on* anything :)
I suppose Space has finally gone mainstream when the dictionary
writers notice you......
These are my own personal opinions, and do not necessarily
represent those of the Air Force, Department of Defense, or U.S.
Government.
William E. Wiesel ph: 513-255-6565 ex 4312
Professor of Astronautical Engineering net: wie...@afit.af.mil
Department of Aeronautics & Astronautics fax: 513-476-7621
Air Force Institute of Technology
Wright-Patterson AFB, OH 45433-7765
Max White
In article <34d0d...@cfanews.harvard.edu>
j...@urania.harvard.edu "Jonathan McDowell" writes:
>
> No, I've heard lots of JSC folks talk about `on orbit'. I claim to
> detect a nuance of meaning: `in orbit' can be applied to an inert
> object and means that something is in orbit (duh). `on orbit'
> is applied to active vehicles, particularly human-carrying spaceships,
> and seems to carry the extra connotation of being in an operating mode that
> is different from the launch or landing phases. Grammatically, it
> seems to be an abbreviation of `[while] on [the] orbit[al phase of the
> mission]'. Thus, [in orbit] is a dynamical state, while [on orbit]
> is a state of mind :-).
> Jonathan
>
>
It seems to have come in with the Shuttle era - go through some of the PAO
transcripts on mission commentary, and it is used in the early flights.
I can't remember its use on Skylab ops.
--
Some people make things happen; some watch things happen; while others
wonder what has happened.
Kermitus
Rich Hurd <rh...@REMOVECAPSlucent.com> wrote in article
<6aq34d$1ig...@micro.lucent.com>...
> The shuttle status reports also report the status of the orbiter as being
"on
> orbit" rather than "in orbit." I would liken it to being "on station"
which
> may also be grammatically incorrect but at least has an aire of
consistency.
> <s>
Ah, thank you Mr. Hurd! You've just elegantly stated the rule by which
most bureaucratese is formed (I've been trying to do that for some time
now--why? Well the first step in curing a disease is being able to
culture it... :o)
--
When you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn?
Rich Hurd
In article <01bd2fee$78e2e6e0$f654...@SCHORN-PETER.jsc.nasa.gov>, "Kermitus" <peter.a...@jsc.nasa.gov> wrote:
>
>Ah, thank you Mr. Hurd! You've just elegantly stated the rule by which
>most bureaucratese is formed (I've been trying to do that for some time
>now--why? Well the first step in curing a disease is being able to
>culture it... :o)
<deep bow> With pleasure. When you get done curing this disease, let's
wander over to Treasury and see what we can do with the IRS, okay?
--
"Practice random senselessness and act kind of beautiful."
Richard Hurd
Microelectronics Group, Allentown PA