Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!sol.ctr.columbia.edu!emory!mephisto!mcnc!rti!xyzzy!poirier From: poirier@dg-rtp.dg.com (Charles Poirier) Newsgroups: sci.space.shuttle Subject: Re: LDEF capture time change (Forwarded) Summary: Catching up to LDEF Message-ID: <2187@xyzzy.UUCP> Date: 12 Jan 90 23:31:04 GMT References: <40214@ames.arc.nasa.gov> Sender: usenet@xyzzy.UUCP Reply-To: poirier@dg-rtp.dg.com ( Poirier local) Lines: 10 Excuse me if this has been covered before and I missed it. Something is puzzling me. The LDEF was more-or-less on the verge of falling out of the sky due to atmospheric friction. The shuttle caught up to it by orbiting at a lower altitude. My question is, how much lower? How much drag did the shuttle experience by orbiting lower than LDEF? And, were any special adjustments made to the shuttle's attitude or configuration to reduce drag in such a low orbit? Cheers, Charles Poirier