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From: fisher@dvinci.DEC
Newsgroups: net.space
Subject: Throwing mass away in orbit
Message-ID: <2334@decwrl.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 28-May-85 11:34:35 EDT
Article-I.D.: decwrl.2334
Posted: Tue May 28 11:34:35 1985
Date-Received: Fri, 31-May-85 01:12:41 EDT
Sender: daemon@decwrl.UUCP
Organization: DEC Engineering Network
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<>

Regarding the question of throwing mass and meeting again in one orbit:

Remember that if you change velocity at a certain point in your orbit, that
changes the height of your orbit the most at the opposite side, and the least
at the point where you changed velocity.  Example:  If you fire a rocket at
perigee, it affects your apogee, but your perigee remains the same.  That means
that yes, the astronaut would meet the ORBIT of the mass s/he threw in one
orbital period, but the mass would not necessarily be there at the same time.
It would probably be a LONG time before both the time and place were the same
for both the mass and the astronaut.

Burns


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