Sentences with phrase «stable orbit»

A stable orbit means that an object, like a satellite or a planet, is moving around another object in a way that keeps it from getting too close or too far away. It stays in a predictable and balanced path, maintaining a consistent distance and speed. Full definition
For example, William Paley, already in 1802, in his treatise Natural Theology, pointed out that if the law of gravity had not been a so «called «inverse square law» then the earth and the other planets would not be able to remain in stable orbits around the sun.
They eliminated those with orbital radii less than one tenth that of Earth's, because at that distance moon systems might not remain in stable orbits around their planets on billion - year timescales.
If so, then conditions would be more favorable for the existence of stable orbit for an Earth - like planet (with liquid water) centered around 1.5 AU from around Iota Persei — around the orbital distance of Mars in the Solar System.
Although the idea that planets that could host such life may sound far - fetched, such orbs may not be so rare: The team's computer simulations indicate that Earth - like planets can exist in several types of stable orbits in multistar systems (inset).
In a talk entitled, «A Future Mars Environment for Science and Exploration» given at the recent Planetary Science Vision 2050 Workshop in Washington DC, Green discussed a magnetic shield which would be launched into stable orbit between Mars and the sun at a position known as the Mars L1 Lagrange Point.
Other than Sol itself, however, only Alpha Centauri A and B may possibly be capable of hosting Earth - type planets in stable orbits within their respective circumstellar habitable zones (CHZs).
In our universe the laws of physics seem precisely calibrated to allow the existence of long - lived stars, planets with stable orbits, and molecules that allow complex chemistry.
Orbity.io is a tricky and very addictive massively multiplayer browser based rocket game in which players attempt to maintain stable orbits around the planet Earth for as long as possible or take off and explore space.
Perhaps it is harder to achieve stable orbits inside Mercury or more difficult to move objects there than originally thought.
As Stable Orbit continues its trajectory to launch, expect further updates on the game's progress before and beyond the official launch»
Mark, «scuse me son, but how do you think you get down to your lower stable orbit without your propellant guys doing their job.
That bulk would make them behave a bit like heavy pebbles outpacing fine silt to the watery bottom of a well, jostling through the lighter surrounding stars to reach stable orbits very close to the Milky Way's core.
The robotic spacecraft would be capable of approaching the asteroid, characterising it, capturing it, and then redirecting it to a final stable orbit that would be closer to Earth and thus easier for astronauts to reach.
In the old view, the planets formed in an orderly manner, born from a swirling disk of gas and dust, known as the solar nebula, into stable orbits at their present locations from the sun.
Some of the cast - off material, though, settled into stable orbits farther from Pluto and coalesced into smaller moons.
However, the gravity of the two companion stars may forbid stable orbits for such objects.
When planetesimals collided, sometimes they cohered into bigger ones and sometimes they split anew; newly formed planets that were not lucky enough to find stable orbits cycled down into the sun or were flung deep into interstellar space.
The expanded sample offers the first hints that stars are fecund breeding grounds for planets that later battle each other for the few stable orbits around the star.
If a small, rocky planet can develop without the interference of planet b, then stable orbits appear to be possible in the inner portion of the habitable zone (Noble et al, 2002, in pdf; and Jones and Sleep, 2003).
These locations are known as Lagrange points, which are numbered L1 to L5 and define specific stable areas where gravitational forces are balanced and allow stable orbits for satellites.
The analyses did not resolve whether the perturbing body orbits Sirius A or B, although dynamical simulations suggest that stable orbits exist around both stars at circumstellar distances up to more than half the binary system's closest separation of 8.1 AUs (Daniel Benest, 1989).
As you can see, due to the gravitational pull of its twin star the only stable orbits are within 2 A.U., and after 50 million years, any mass beyond 2 A.U. has been launched into highly eccentric orbits and either migrated inward to be accreted by inner bodies, collided with the central star, or was ejected from the system.
Which of these will adopt long - lived stable orbits and which will boomerang back to the cloud from which they came as fast as they came to us.
Since collisions occur in a huge variety of directions and speeds, they are unlikely to produce moons with perfectly stable orbits initially.
Active asteroids have stable orbits between Mars and Jupiter like other asteroids.
If so, then conditions would be more favorable for the existence of stable orbit for an Earth - like planet (with liquid water) centered around 1.15 AU from around 15 Sge — between the orbital distances of Earth and Mars in the Solar System.
If so, then conditions would be more favorable for the existence of stable orbit for an Earth - like planet (with liquid water) centered around 1.12 AU from around 37 Gem — between the orbital distances of Earth and Mars in the Solar System.
Assuming all goes well, Chang Díaz says, Ad Astra will then pursue multiple near - term applications of VASIMR, such as periodically nudging the space station and other large satellites into stable orbits.
As a collision - generated moon adjusts to a more stable orbit, mutual gravitational attraction causes the interiors of the parent world and its new moon to repeatedly stretch and relax, generating friction that releases heat in a process known as tidal heating.
In stable orbit around Ceres, Dawn will continue circling even after it runs out of fuel late next year (SN Online: 10/20/17).
However, the deep oceans of Earth and the subsurface of the Moon are largely unexplored territory, while regions such as the asteroid belt, the Kuiper belt, and stable orbits around other Solar System planets could also contain non-terrestrial artifacts that have so far escaped human observation.
The Dawn spacecraft is in such a stable orbit around the world, one Dawn mission scientist told the BBC, that it could stay there for a century or more and become «a perpetual satellite.»
Is there a way to preserve these in space, put them at a Lagrangian point — where they can maintain a stable orbit — and leave them for future space tourism?
All together, they envision their sail's journey to Alpha Centauri A and B taking nearly a century, followed by another half - century voyage to the final destination — a stable orbit around Proxima.
The final rocket stage separated an hour and 45 minutes after launch, and soon afterwards the control room confirmed that the spacecraft was in a stable orbit facing the sun.
Both motherships are in stable orbits, Manchester says — offering enough time for mission controllers to attempt various fixes — and Sprites have previously withstood long - term exposure to space.
While Hamers thinks that the earth will then remain in a stable orbit, this is really only small consolation: around the same time, the sun will grow into a «red giant» and completely engulf the earth.
The final stage separated an hour and 45 minutes after launch, and soon afterwards the control room confirmed that the spacecraft was in a stable orbit facing the sun.
Ram pressure also churns the gas, pushing some of it out of a stable orbit and into the black hole.
In a sense the stable orbits are like tracks carved into the topology of space itself.
Out pops the third stage: a small rocket with just enough oomph to nudge the payload into stable orbit.
NASA is assessing two concepts to robotically capture and redirect an asteroid mass into a stable orbit around the moon.
The goal of the consortium is to replace data provided by the STEREO satellites, through a new mission capable of providing continuous data from a stable orbit, necessary for the Met Office to provide 5 - day forecasts and increase the accuracy of CME arrival forecasts.
This concept image shows an astronaut preparing to take samples from the captured asteroid after it has been relocated to a stable orbit in the Earth - moon system.
«It's a stable orbit, stable in the sense that it isn't plagued by attitude perturbations.»
«One of the most significant things we accomplished, and Trevor (Williams) played a key role, was determining that, at its farthest point, the spacecraft - Earth - Moon angle doesn't need to be 90 degrees, but can vary as much as 30 degrees from that and still provide a stable orbit,» said Chad Mendelsohn, a Goddard engineer involved in the orbit studies.
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