earth's orbit
111Parking orbit — A parking orbit is a temporary orbit used during the launch of a satellite or other space probe. A launch vehicle boosts into the parking orbit, then coasts for a while, then fires again to enter the final desired trajectory. The alternative to a …
112History of the Earth — For the history of modern humans, see History of the world. Geological time put in a diagram called a geological clock, showing the relative lengths of the eons of the Earth s history The history of the Earth describes the most important events… …
113Inclined orbit — A satellite is said to occupy an inclined orbit around the Earth if the orbit exhibits an angle other than zero degrees with the equatorial plane. This angle is called the orbit s inclination. Special case: geosynchronous inclined orbit A… …
114Two-stage-to-orbit — A two stage to orbit (TSTO or DSTO Double/Dual Stage To Orbit) launch vehicle is a spacecraft in which two distinct stages provide propulsion consecutively in order to achieve orbital velocity. It is intermediate between a three stage to orbit… …
115Single-stage-to-orbit — The VentureStar was a proposed SSTO spaceplane. A single stage to orbit (or SSTO) vehicle reaches orbit from the surface of a body without jettisoning hardware, expending only propellants and fluids. The term usually, but not exclusively, refers… …
116Circular orbit — For other meanings of the term orbit , see orbit (disambiguation) A circular orbit is the orbit at a fixed distance around any point by an object rotating around a fixed axis. Below we consider a circular orbit in astrodynamics or celestial… …
117geostationary orbit — a circular orbit 35,785 km (22,236 miles) above Earth s (Earth) Equator in which a satellite s (satellite) orbital period is equal to Earth s rotation period of 23 hours and 56 minutes. A spacecraft in this orbit appears to an observer on… …
118Near-equatorial orbit — A near equatorial orbit is an orbit that lies close to the equatorial plane of the object orbited. This orbit allows for rapid revisit times (for a single orbiting spacecraft) of near equatorial ground sites.[citation needed] See also List of… …
119Polar orbit — A polar orbit is an orbit in which a satellite passes above or nearly above both poles of the body (usually a planet such as the Earth, but possibly another body such as the Sun) being orbited on each revolution. It therefore has an inclination… …
120Minimum orbit intersection distance — The orbit of (4953) 1990 MU, which, with a MOID of 0.0276 AU, is classified as a potentially hazardous object Minimum orbit intersection distance (MOID) is a measure used in astronomy to assess collision risk between astronomical objects.[1] It… …
