Asri-unix.743 net.space utcsrgv!utzoo!decvax!ucbvax!ARPAVAX:C70:sri-unix!REM@MIT-MC Tue Feb 9 22:25:36 1982 Re: sri-unix.707: Horseshoe Orbits You're mistaken (wrong). Under inverse-square law, such as gravity, higher orbits actually travel slower, not faster! If energy is added to a satellite, it rises into a higher orbit, but more knetic energy is converted into potential energy than was applied to make it rise to the new orbit and it has less knetic energy (but much more potential energy) than when it was lower. Earth-based common sense, if add energy an object travels faster, doesn't apply in orbital mechanics; add energy and the object ends up in a new slower orbit. Here's an example if you don't believe me. The moon is about 225,000 miles from Earth, while geosynchronous satellites are about 25,000 miles from Earth. Thus the moon has to travel about 10 times as far to get around, but takes about 29 times as long to do it because it is traveling only about a third as fast in linear velocity. ----------------------------------------------------------------- gopher://quux.org/ conversion by John Goerzen of http://communication.ucsd.edu/A-News/ This Usenet Oldnews Archive article may be copied and distributed freely, provided: 1. There is no money collected for the text(s) of the articles. 2. The following notice remains appended to each copy: The Usenet Oldnews Archive: Compilation Copyright (C) 1981, 1996 Bruce Jones, Henry Spencer, David Wiseman.