near-geosynchronous orbits
Guff12345
If you had an orbit below geosynch altitude and inclined away from pure
equatorial, such that half the time its in the north and the other half in the
south, would any such orbit maintain a constant longitude? (i.e., so that a
dish on the earth would only have to shift north and south, not east and west,
to track it)
Guff12345
Probably forget about this post, not sure what I was thinking of. Was thinking
that if an orbit migrated around the equator at less than geosynchronous its
longer orbital path would cancel out its faster speed. However on second
thought all orbits are always circular (or variations thereof). Thus lower
altitude means shorter orbit path no matter how much it appears to migrate.
(Apparent migration of orbit around a point is either due to map distortion or
orbit precession, I guess.)
Filip De Vos
Guff12345 (guff...@aol.com) wrote:
: Probably forget about this post, not sure what I was thinking of. Was thinking
: that if an orbit migrated around the equator at less than geosynchronous its
: longer orbital path would cancel out its faster speed. However on second
: thought all orbits are always circular (or variations thereof). Thus lower
No, not all orbits are circular. All _geostationary orbits are circular,
however, it is in the definition.
It is perfectly possible to place a satellite in a 24h orbit that is not
geostationary. Even polar 24h orbits are possible, though I would not
know for what, if anything they could be useful.
: altitude means shorter orbit path no matter how much it appears to migrate.
: (Apparent migration of orbit around a point is either due to map distortion or
: orbit precession, I guess.)
Not sure what you mean by 'migration'. It appears you mean oscillations
of the down-projected satellite point, in small-scale version of Syncom
2's figure eight pattern, while migration I think should
mean the slow drift of a spacecraft in near-GEO. So instead of a strict
24h orbit, the orbital period is just short or long by a minute or so.
This is used for placing a craft in its proper orbital slot.
--
Filip De Vos FilipP...@rug.ac.be
There are plenty of ways to empty a solar system.
-- John S. Lewis --