Talk:Orbital mechanics

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To-do list for Orbital mechanics:	edit · history · watch · refresh
Here are some tasks you can do: Requests: Equations are not helpful when their terms are not defined. Exophthalmos 14:15, 13 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] From PNA/Physics (historical)

Astrodynamics#Historical_approaches: needs to be re-written. Just throwing in names of famous scientists in history is useless. -- PFHLai 23:04, 2004 Oct 22 (UTC)

Yep. That's why this article has a todo list. --P3d0 19:54, 26 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Orbital mechanics

Orbital mechanics redirects here, but surely it would be better off redirecting to celestial mechanics? It seems more likely to me that somebody researching it would want to know about orbits in general, not just artificial ones. JulesH 11:24, 26 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Neat little law:

This is something about orbits I read a little while back, that might be appropriate in this article:

In order to slow down, you speed up; to speed up, you slow down.

Slowing down puts you into a lower orbit, which is faster in relation to a point on the surface of the body you are orbiting around. Speeding up puts you into a higher orbit, which is slower in relation to the aforementioned point.

Can anyone think of a place to put this?

Phædrus 12:01, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

I'm not sure it's that useful. It's barely even true. If you slow down, you slow down; there's nothing magical about orbits that makes this false. However, it is true that if you slow down at one point in an orbit, you do often end up in an orbit with a shorter period and a higher top speed, which is kind of interesting. --P3d0 18:56, 19 April 2007 (UTC)

I added a "Rules of thumb" section which I hope covers this general idea in a less confusing way. -- Beland (talk) 01:49, 21 January 2008 (UTC)

Phraedrus: You are incorrect, your speed is dependent on your semi major axis and speeding up puts you in a larger orbit which means you are going slower, simple derivation from Kepler's equations.

[edit] This article needs a lot of help

Well, folks, this is the article that taught me I'm no good at writing large articles from scratch. I'll be happy to contribute any way I can, but three years after I had first intended to revamp this article, I haven't done much. If someone else wants to give it ago, they'll have my full support. --P3d0 19:02, 19 April 2007 (UTC)

Not every one is a physicist, please write out your equations in full, like this, force = mass*distance/time squared, Newtons. Force of gravitational attraction = G*M*m/r^2, Newtons. Energy = force*distance, hence [G*M*m/r^2]*r = G*M*m/r joules. and your energy/mass = G*M/r, joules per kg. velocity v = r/t =[2*G*M/r]^1/2 = {2*[r^3/m*t^2]*M}/r, m/s, since f^2=1/t^2, then velocity, r/t = frequency*wave length = f*{r*[2*M/m]^1/2}, m/s. Since hf = mc^2, joules, then mass, m = h*f/c^2, kg, substituting for mass gives us, v=f*r[2*[h*f(M)/c^2]*[1/h*f/C^2]]^1/2, m/s. which contracts to, v=r*[2*f*f(M)]^1/2, m/s, where f(M) is the frequency of the wave between mass M and the test mass, see www.QuantumMatter.com.--79.68.156.33 23:57, 3 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Duplication?

Is the "Application" subsection of Kepler's Laws partly redundant with the "Position as a function of time" section of Kepler's laws of planetary motion? Not sure where this material belongs or in what form. -- Beland (talk) 19:22, 6 August 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Diagram request

It is requested that a diagram or diagrams be included in this article to improve its quality. For more information, refer to discussion on this page and/or the listing at Wikipedia:Requested images.

I was asked to clarify this request. Suggestions of things that might be illustrated or animated:

• A sequence showing initial orbit, transfer orbit, and final orbit.
• Docking maneuver
• Lower orbits = faster movement
• Equal areas in equal times

-- Beland (talk) 19:22, 6 August 2008 (UTC)