Satellites Archives

September 14, 2016October 5, 2016 by Evan Gough

Israeli Shavit Rocket Delivers Malfunctioning Spy Satellite Into Orbit

Israel's Shavit 2 (Comet) rocket carried the Ofek-11 satellite into orbit on Sept. 13, 2016. Israeli media report that the satellite is malfunctioning. Image: Israeli Ministry of Defence. — Israel's Shavit 2 (Comet) rocket carried the Ofek-11 (Horizon) satellite into orbit on Sept. 13, 2016. Israeli media report that the satellite is malfunctioning. Image: Israeli Ministry of Defence.

Israel launched a Shavit2 rocket from its facility at Palmachim airbase on Sept. 13. The launch was the 10th one for the Shavit rocket system, which had its initial launch in 1988. The launch and delivery were successful, but Israeli media is reporting that the payload, the Ofek-11 satellite, is malfunctioning.

The Ofek-11 satellite in Tuesday’s launch is an optical imaging satellite, basically a spy satellite, operated by the Isreali Ministry of Defence. It operates at an altitude of 600 km. It’s orbital path is designed to pass over Israel’s region 6 times per day, allowing the Ministry of Defence to focus on targets of interest in their nation’s region.

Officials involved with the launch have successfully contacted the satellite. Amnon Harari, head of the Defence Ministry’s Space Department, told the Times of Israel that it was “not clear that everything was in order,” hours after the launch.

Doron Ofer is CEO of the Israel Aerospace Industries’ Space Division, the company that makes the Shavit rocket. He told the Times of Israel that due to the satellite’s path, and the rotation of the Earth, the satellite can only be contacted a few times per day. This complicates efforts to correct the satellite.

“We have downloaded some figures, and we are now checking them. It’s not functioning exactly the way we expected, and we don’t know what it’s status is,” Ofer said. “We are now working to stabilize it, but it will take some time because of the small amount of communication we have with it when it comes in our area.”

The Ofek-11 will be the 11th satellite that provides intelligence to the Israeli forces, but not much is known about its exact capabilities. For obvious reasons, the Israeli Defence Ministry is keeping things secret.

It is widely believed that this newest satellite is among the world’s most advanced satellite recon systems. It’s enhanced imaging system purportedly collects images at a ground resolution of 0.5 meters from its 600-Kilometer orbit.

The Ofek-11 surpasses its predecessor, Ofek-9, launched in 2010, which had only a 0.7 meter resolution. The Ofek-10 was a radar imaging satellite launched in 2014 to capture all-weather, day and night images at a resolution less than 1 meter. The overlapping nature of Israel’s satellite system eliminates any gaps in their ability to monitor their region.

Two weeks ago, Israel had another failure in its satellite efforts, though that one was much more catastrophic. The Amos-6 civilian communications satellite was going to be Israel’s largest satellite to date. However, the SpaceX rocket tasked with taking Amos-6 into orbit exploded on its Cape Canaveral launch pad.

Israel is the 8th country in the world to develop their own orbital launch capabilities. They launched their first satellite, the Ofek-1, aboard the maiden flight of their Shavit-1 rocket in 1988. Including that first launch, Israel has attempted 10 launches, and has been successful 8 times. All of those have been Ofek satellites, operated by the military.

All but one of Israel’s Ofek satellites have been launched by Israel’s Shavit-1 and Shavit-2 rockets. The lone exception is Ofek-8, also known as TecSar, launched aboard the Indian Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV).

July 14, 2016September 20, 2016 by Matt Williams

Lightweight Telescopes In CubeSats Using Carbon Nanotube Mirrors

A team of NASA engineers has fashioned the world's first telescope mirrors made from carbon nanotubes. Credit: NASA

Ever since they were first produced, carbon nanotubes have managed to set off a flurry excitement in the scientific community. With applications ranging from water treatment and electronics, to biomedicine and construction, this should come as no surprise. But a team of NASA engineers from the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, has pioneered the use of carbon nanotubes for yet another purpose – space-based telescopes.

Using carbon nanotubes, the Goddard team – which is led by Dr. Theodor Kostiuk of NASA’s Planetary Systems Laboratory and Solar System Exploration Division – have created a revolutionary new type of telescope mirror. These mirrors will be deployed as part of a CubeSat, one which may represent a new breed of low-cost, highly effective space-based telescopes.

This latest innovation also takes advantage of another field that has seen a lot of development of late. CubeSats, like other small satellites, have been playing an increasingly important role in recent years. Unlike the larger, bulkier satellites of yesteryear, miniature satellites are a low-cost platform for conducting space missions and scientific research.

John Kolasinski (left), Ted Kostiuk (center), and Tilak Hewagama (right) hold mirrors made of carbon nanotubes in an epoxy resin. The mirror is being tested for potential use in a lightweight telescope specifically for CubeSat scientific investigations. Credits: NASA/W. Hrybyk — *Dr. Ted Kostiuk (center), flanked by John Kolasinski (left), and Tilak Hewagama (right), holding mirrors made of carbon nanotubes in an epoxy resin. Credit: NASA/W. Hrybyk*

Beyond federal space agencies like NASA, they also offer private business and research institutions the opportunity to conduct communications, research and observation from space. On top of that, they are also a low-cost way to engage students in all phases of satellite construction, deployment, and space-based research.

Granted, missions that rely on miniature satellites are not likely to generate the same amount of interest or scientific research as large-scale operations like the Juno mission or the New Horizons space probe. But they can provide vital information as part of larger missions, or work in groups to gather greater amounts of data.

With the help of funding from Goddard’s Internal Research and Development program, the team created a laboratory optical bench made of regular off-the-shelf components to test the telescope’s overall design. This bench consists of a series of miniature spectrometers tuned to the ultraviolet, visible, and near-infrared wavelengths, which are connected to the focused beam of the nanotube mirrors via an optic cable.

Using this bench, the team is testing the optical mirrors, seeing how they stand up to different wavelengths of light. Peter Chen – the president of Lightweight Telescopes a Maryland-based company – is one of the contractors working with the Goddard team to create the CubeSat telescope. As he was quoted as saying by a recent NASA press release:

“No one has been able to make a mirror using a carbon-nanotube resin. This is a unique technology currently available only at Goddard. The technology is too new to fly in space, and first must go through the various levels of technological advancement. But this is what my Goddard colleagues (Kostiuk, Tilak Hewagama, and John Kolasinski) are trying to accomplish through the CubeSat program.

*The laboratory breadboard that is being used to test a conceptual telescope for use on CubeSat missions. Credits: NASA/W. Hrybyk*

Unlike other mirrors, the one created by Dr. Kostiuk’s team was fabricated out of carbon nanotubes embedded in an epoxy resin. Naturally, carbon nanotubes offer a wide range of advantages, not the least of which are structural strength, unique electrical properties, and efficient conduction of heat. But the Goddard team also chose this material for their lenses because it offers a lightweight, highly stable and easily reproducible option for creating telescope mirrors.

What’s more, mirrors made of carbon-nanotubes do not require polishing, which is a time-consuming and expensive process when it comes to space-based telescopes. The team hopes that this new method will prove useful in creating a new class of low-cost, CubeSat space telescopes, as well as helping to reduce costs when it comes to larger ground-based and space-based telescopes.

Such mirrors would be especially useful in telescopes that use multiple mirror segments (like the Keck Observatory at Mauna Kea and the James Webb Space Telescope). Such mirrors would be a real cost-cutter since they can be easily produced and would eliminate the need for expensive polishing and grinding.

Other potential applications include deep-space communications, improved electronics, and structural materials for spacecraft. Currently, the production of carbon nanotubes is quite limited. But as it becomes more widespread, we can expect this miracle material to be making its way into all aspects of space exploration and research.

Further Reading: NASA

May 31, 2016May 31, 2016 by Evan Gough

Launch Of World’s Largest Rocket Postponed

Mission art for NROL-37. The Delta-IV Heavy kind of looks like three cigarettes. Credit: United Launch Alliance

Next weekend’s launch of the Delta-4 Heavy has been postponed. The launch, which was to take place at Cape Canaveral, has been delayed due to unspecified payload issues. The launch is for the National Reconnaissance Office, a fairly secretive branch of the U.S. Government that’s in charge of the nation’s spy satellites. As such, they aren’t revealing too many details about the launch, or the postponement.

The Delta-4 Heavy rocket is a combination of three booster cores from the Delta Medium. Each one of these cores is a liquid hydrogen-fuelled engine that forms the Delta-4 Medium’s first stage. They’re mounted together to make a trio of engines, capped with a cryogenic upper stage.

The Delta-4 Heavy weighs 725000 kg (1.6 million lbs.) when it’s fully fuelled. It’s 71.6 meters (235 ft.) tall, and when it’s ignited it unleashes a whopping 2.1 million lbs. of thrust.

This configuration makes it the USA’s largest rocket, and it carries critical payloads for the government. These include not only spy satellites, but also an un-crewed test flight of the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle.

The cancelled mission, named NROL-37, was supposed to lift an Orion 9 satellite into orbit. Orion satellites are signal interception satellites, and are placed in geo-stationary orbits to collect radio emissions. One of the Orion satellites is believed to be “… the largest satellite in the world,” according to Bruce Carlson, NRO Director. This probably refers to the size of the satellites antenna, which is over 100m (330ft.) in diameter.

The Delta-4 Heavy (D4H) is considered the largest rocket in the world. The D4H can lift a whopping 28,790 kg into Low Earth Orbit (LEO.) Contemporaries like the Ariane 5 (ECA & ES versions) can lift 21,000 kg into LEO.

It won’t be the most powerful rocket for much longer though. The upcoming Falcon Heavy from SpaceX will lift an enormous 54,400 kg into LEO. Also being developed is the US Space Launch System (SLS), which, in its Block2 configuration, will lift 130,700 kg. The Chinese are in on the most powerful rocket game too, with their Long March 9 rocket. Under development now, it is projected to lift 130,000 kg into LEO, just a shade less than the SLS.

Oddly enough, the old Saturn V could lift 140,000 kg, putting all its successors to shame. The Saturn V was developed for the Apollo Program, and was also used to launch Skylab. Saturn V was in use from 1967 to 1973. To date, the Saturn V is the only rocket capable of transporting human beings beyond LEO.

A Saturn IV launching the historic Apollo 11 mission. Image: NASA/Michael Vuijlsteke. Public Domain image.

As for the cancelled launch, no date has been set yet for the next launch. Once it is launched, it will mark the 9th D4H configuration to fly, and the 32nd Delta 4 launch since 2002. It will also be the 6th time the D4H has launched for the NRO.

Universe Today’s Ken Kremer is at Cape Canaveral for this launch, and will report on it, and no doubt provide some stunning photos. Check back with us to see Ken’s coverage.

May 9, 2016May 15, 2016 by Evan Gough

SpaceX Maiden Falcon Heavy Launch May Carry Satellite In November

An artist's illustration of the Falcon Heavy rocket. The Falcon Heavy has 3 engine cores, each one containing 9 Merlin engines. Image: SpaceX

Move over Arianespace and United Launch Alliance. SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket is set for its maiden launch this November. The long-awaited Falcon Heavy should be able to outperform both the Ariane 5 and the ULA Delta-4 Heavy, at least in some respects.

The payload for the maiden voyage is uncertain so far. According to Gwynne Shotwell, SpaceX’s President and CEO, a number of companies have expressed interest in being on the first flight. Shotwell has also said that it might make more sense for SpaceX to completely own their first flight, without the pressure to keep a client happy. But a satellite payload for the first launch hasn’t been ruled out.

Delivering a payload into orbit is what the Falcon Heavy, and its competitors the Ariane5 and the ULA Delta-4 Heavy, are all about. Since one of the main competitive points of the Falcon Heavy is its ability to put larger payloads into geo-stationary orbits, accomplishing that feat on its first flight would be a great coming out party for the Falcon Heavy.

This artist's illustration of the Falcon Heavy shows the rocket in flight prior to releasing its two side boosters. Image: SpaceX — This artist’s illustration of the Falcon Heavy shows the rocket in flight prior to releasing its two side boosters. Image: SpaceX

SpaceX has promised that it will make its first Falcon Heavy launch useful. They say that they will use the flight either to demonstrate to its commercial customers the rocket’s capability to deliver a payload to GTO, or to demonstrate to national security interests its ability to meet their needs.

National security satellites require different capabilities from launch vehicles than do commercial communication satellites. Since these spacecraft are top secret, and are used to spy on communications, they need to be placed directly into their GTO, avoiding the lower-altitude transfer orbit of commercial satellites.

The payload for the first launch of the Falcon Heavy is not the only thing in question. There’s some question whether the November launch date can be achieved, since the Falcon Heavy has faced some delays in the past.

The inaugural flight for the big brother to the Falcon 9 was originally set for 2013, but several delays have kept bumping the date. One of the main reasons for this was the state of the Falcon 9. SpaceX was focussed on Falcon 9’s landing capabilities, and put increased manpower into that project, at the expense of the Falcon Heavy. But now that SpaceX has successfully landed the Falcon 9, the company seems poised to meet the November launch date for the Heavy.

One of the main attractions to the Falcon Heavy is its ability to deliver larger payloads to geostationary orbit (GEO). This is the orbit occupied by communications and weather satellites. These types of satellites, and the companies that build and operate them, are an important customer base for SpaceX. SpaceX claims that the Falcon Heavy will be able to place payloads of 22,200 kg (48,940 lbs) to GEO. This trumps the Delta-4 Heavy (14,200 kg/31,350 lbs) and the Ariane5 (max. 10,500 kg/23,100 lbs.)

There’s a catch to these numbers, though. The Falcon Heavy will be able to deliver larger payloads to GEO, but it’ll do it at the expense of reusability. In order to recover the two side-boosters and central core stage for reuse, some fuel has to be held in reserve. Carrying that fuel and using it for recovery, rather than burning it to boost larger payloads, will reduce the payload for GEO to about 8,000 kg (17,637 lbs.) That’s significantly less than the Ariane 5, and the upcoming Ariane 6, which will both compete for customers with the Falcon Heavy.

The Falcon Heavy is essentially four Falcon 9 rockets configured together to create a larger rocket. Three Falcon 9 first stage boosters are combined to generate three times as much thrust at lift-off as a single Falcon 9. Since each Falcon 9 is actually made of 9 separate engines, the Falcon Heavy will actually have 27 separate engines powering its first stage. The second stage is another single Falcon 9 second-stage rocket, consisting of a single Merlin engine, which can be fired multiple times to place payloads in orbit.

The three main boosters for the Falcon Heavy will all be built this summer, with construction of one already underway. Once complete, they will be transported from their construction facility in California to the testing facility in Texas. After that, they will be transported to Cape Canaveral.

Once at Cape Canaveral, the launch preparations will have all of the 27 engines in the first stage fired together in a hold-down firing, which will give SpaceX its first look at how all three main boosters operate together.

Eventually, if everything goes well, the Falcon Heavy will launch from Pad 39A at Cape Canaveral. Pad 39A is the site of the last Shuttle launches, and is now leased from NASA by SpaceX.

The Falcon Heavy will be the most powerful rocket around, once it’s operational. The versatility to deliver huge payloads to orbit, or to keep its costs down by recovering boosters, will make its first flight a huge achievement, whether or not it does deliver a satellite into orbit on its first launch.

April 22, 2016February 9, 2021 by Fraser Cain

Weekly Space Hangout – Apr. 22, 2016: Mike Simmons highlights Global Astronomy Month

Host: Fraser Cain (@fcain)

Special Guest:
Mike Simmons, Founder and President of Astronomers without Borders (http://astronomerswithoutborders.org), will be joining us to discuss the 2016 Global Astronomy Month (GAM)! GAM is organized each April by Astronomers Without Borders and is the world’s largest global celebration of astronomy. Find out about the amazing GAM events going on all over the world and how YOU can get involved.

Guests:

Kimberly Cartier (@AstroKimCartier )
Dave Dickinson (www.astroguyz.com / @astroguyz)
Morgan Rehnberg (MorganRehnberg.com / @MorganRehnberg )

Their stories this week:
China studies making babies in space

Autopsying Hitomi

Lone Planetary-Mass Object Found in Family of Stars

Ultra-cool polar regions of Venus’s atmosphere

We’ve had an abundance of news stories for the past few months, and not enough time to get to them all. So we’ve started a new system. Instead of adding all of the stories to the spreadsheet each week, we are now using a tool called Trello to submit and vote on stories we would like to see covered each week, and then Fraser will be selecting the stories from there. Here is the link to the Trello WSH page (http://bit.ly/WSHVote), which you can see without logging in. If you’d like to vote, just create a login and help us decide what to cover!

We record the Weekly Space Hangout every Friday at 12:00 pm Pacific / 3:00 pm Eastern. You can watch us live on Google+, Universe Today, or the Universe Today YouTube page.

You can also join in the discussion between episodes over at our Weekly Space Hangout Crew group in G+!

March 29, 2016 by Evan Gough

Japan’s Black Hole Telescope Is In Trouble

An artist's drawing of Japan's Hitomi observatory. Image Credit: JAXA/Akihiro Ikeshita

The Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has lost contact with its X-ray Astronomy Satellite Hitomi (ASTRO-H.) Hitomi was launched on February 17th, for a 3-year mission to study black holes. But now that mission appears to be in jeopardy.

Hitomi is a collaboration between JAXA and NASA. Its mission was to investigate how galaxy clusters were formed and influenced by dark matter and dark energy, and to understand how super-massive black holes form and evolve at the center of galaxies. Hitomi was also to “unearth the physical laws governing extreme conditions in neutron stars and black holes,” according to JAXA.

Japan has managed two very short communications with Hitomi, but they were very brief, and JAXA has not been able to determine the nature of the problem. Now, JSpOC, the US Joint Space Operations Center, say they have detected debris in the vicinity of Hitomi, and in a press release this morning (March 29th), JAXA says “it is estimated that Hitomi separated to five pieces at about 10:42 a.m.”

Hitomi was going to be an important contribution to the fleet of space telescopes used by astrophysicists and cosmologists. It has a cutting edge instrument called the X-ray micro-calorimeter, which would have observed X-rays from space with the greatest sensitivity of any instrument so far. If all that is lost, it will be quite a blow.

There’s no definitive word yet on what exactly has happened to Hitomi. Japan is using ground stations in different parts of the world to try to communicate with their observatory. It’s important to note that there is no agreement that the craft has broken apart. The press releases are translations from Japanese to English, so the exact meaning of “separated to five pieces” is unclear.

It’s possible that there was a small explosion of some sort, and that some debris from that explosion is in the vicinity of Hitomi. It’s also possible that JAXA will re-establish communications with the craft as time goes on.

Other observatories have suffered serious problems, and have eventually been brought back under control and completed their missions. The ESA/NASA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) suffered serious problems at the beginning of its mission in 1995, entering emergency mode 3 times before all contact was lost. Eventually, SOHO was brought under control, and what was supposed to be a 2-year mission has lasted 20.

Universe Today will be following this story to see if Hitomi can be made operational. For readers wanting to know more about Hitomi’s mission, read JAXA’s excellent Hitomi press kit.

March 10, 2016March 18, 2016 by Evan Gough

MRO: Ten Years Of Breathtaking Work Above Mars

Today marks exactly 10 years since NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) arrived at Mars and began its journey of breathtaking discovery. It’s impossible to exaggerate the effect that the MRO has had on our understanding of Mars. Among MRO’s contributions to our knowledge of Mars is the (possible) detection of liquid water, an understanding of the seasonal changes on Mars, and the identification of underground geological structures.

To top it all off, MRO has produced some great Martian eye candy.
Martian Eye Candy: A beautiful picture of some dunes on the surface of Mars. Thanks MRO! (Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona)

These kinds of discoveries are directly attributable to the mission’s longevity, and to the productivity of the science instruments aboard the orbiter. MRO’s 6 science instruments are still functioning 7 years after the principal science phase of the mission was completed.

MRO still has an important role to play, as an advance scout for rover missions and human missions. And, of course, it’s still doing important science work.

For more information on MRO’s contributions, and some great infographic summaries, visit NASA’s MRO Ten Years of Discovery Page.

December 30, 2015April 18, 2016 by Matt Williams

How Many Moons Does Mercury Have?

Planet Mercury as seen from the MESSENGER spacecraft in 2008. Credit: NASA/JPL

Virtually every planet in the Solar System has moons. Earth has The Moon, Mars has Phobos and Deimos, and Jupiter and Saturn have 67 and 62 officially named moons, respectively. Heck, even the recently-demoted dwarf planet Pluto has five confirmed moons – Charon, Nix, Hydra, Kerberos and Styx. And even asteroids like 243 Ida may have satellites orbiting them (in this case, Dactyl). But what about Mercury?

If moons are such a common feature in the Solar System, why is it that Mercury has none? Yes, if one were to ask how many satellites the planet closest to our Sun has, that would be the short answer. But answering it more thoroughly requires that we examine the process through which other planets acquired their moons, and seeing how these apply (or fail to apply) to Mercury.

Continue reading “How Many Moons Does Mercury Have?”

September 2, 2015December 23, 2015 by Nancy Atkinson

More Spectacular Images from the MUOS-4 Launch

Stunning downrange plume over the rising sun, about 3 mins after launch of the MUOS-4 satellite from Space Launch Complex 41 in Florida. Used by permission. Credit and copyright: Mike Seeley.

Skywatchers across Central Florida got an unusual view early Wednesday morning in conjunction with the Atlas V launch of the MUOS-4 satellite.

“That wasn’t thunder this AM, Florida: An absolutely stunning MUOS launch!” tweeted photographer Michael Seeley, who shared several images of the launch with Universe Today. Mike is a freelance photographer and works with Spaceflight Insider. You can see more of his imagery at his website.

The pre-dawn light combined with unusual atmospheric conditions produced stunning views both during and well after the launch. The skyshow was visible across a wide area.

“Folks as far south as Miami and up to Jacksonville to the north saw it,” Universe Today’s David Dickinson said. “I even heard kids waiting for the school bus on our street crying out in surprise!”

You can read more about the launch and the mission in our article from Ken Kremer, but see a stunning gallery of images of the unusual cloud formations following the launch below:

A long exposure image of the light trail from the Atlas V launch of the MUOS-4 satellite, as seen from the ITL Causeway. Image used by permission. Credit and copyright: Mike Seeley. — A long exposure image of the light trail from the Atlas V launch of the MUOS-4 satellite, as seen from the ITL Causeway. Image used by permission. Credit and copyright: Michael Seeley.

A closeup view of the Atlas V MUOS-4 launch by United Launch Alliance. Image used by permission. Credit and copyright: Michael Seeley.

Below are a group of images and video from UT’s David Dickinson, taken about 100 miles away from Cape Canaveral in Hudson, Florida:

The launch of the MUOS-4 satellite from Cape Canaveral, Florida on September 2, 2015 created an unusual noctilucent cloud display, visible even from 100 miles away. Credit and copyright: David Dickinson.

Remaining noctilucent clouds about 25 minutes after the launch of the MUOS-4 satellite on board an Atlas V rocket on September 2, 2015. Image taken from Hudson, Florida, about 100 miles west of Cape Canaveral. Credit and copyright: David Dickinson.

A view from Hudson, Florida, about 100 miles west of Cape Canaveral after the launch of the MUOS-4 Satellite on September 2, 2015. Credit and copyright: David Dickinson.

An Atlas V rocket carrying the MUOS-4 mission lifts off from Space Launch Complex 41, creating a unique light display. Sept. 2, 2015. Credit: ULA.

June 11, 2015February 27, 2017 by Fraser Cain

How Low Can You Orbit?

The Earth’s atmosphere is a total drag, especially if you’re trying to orbit our planet. So how low can you go?

The Earth’s atmosphere is a total drag, especially if you’re trying to orbit our planet. It’s a drag. Get it? Atmospheric drag. Drag. Drag.

Hi, my name is Fraser Cain. I’m the publisher of Universe Today, and sometimes my team lets me write my own jokes.

I could have started off this episode with a reference to the “Adama Drop” in-atmosphere viper deployment from BSG, but instead I went with a Dad joke. My punishment is drawing attention to it.

So how low can you go? And if you go low enough, will Ludacris appear in the mirror?

We all appreciate the Earth’s atmosphere and everything it does for you. With all the breathing, and the staying warm and the not having horrible bruises all over your body from teeny space rocks pummeling us.

I’ve got an alternative view. The Earth’s atmosphere is your gilded pressurized oxygenated cage, and it’s the one thing keeping you from flying in space.And as we all know, this is your destiny.

Without the atmosphere, you could easily orbit the Earth, a few kilometers over its surface. Traveling around and around the planet like a person sized Moon. Wouldn’t that be great?

Well, it’s not going to happen. As you walk through the atmosphere, you bonk into all the air molecules. You don’t feel it when you’re moving at walking speed, but go faster, like an airplane, and it’ll rock you like a hurricane.

Without constant thrust pushing against the atmosphere, you’ll keep slowing down, and when you’re trying to orbit the planet, it’s a killer. Our atmosphere is like someone is constantly pushing the brakes on the fly in space party.

If you’ve played Kerbal Space Program, you know the faster you’re traveling, the higher you orbit. Conversely, the slower you travel, the lower you orbit. Travel slow enough and you’ll eat it, and by it, I meant as much planet as you can co-exist with after a high speed impact.

Being more massive means more momentum to push against the atmospheric drag. But with a large surface area, it acts like a parachute, slowing you down.

Hey, I know something that’s super massive with a huge surface area. The International Space Station orbits the planet at an altitude between 330 km and 435 km.

Why such a big range? The atmosphere is constantly pushing against the ISS as it orbits the planet. This slows down the space station’s speed and lowers its orbit. It wouldn’t last more than a couple of years if it wasn’t able to counteract the atmospheric drag.

The International Space Station, photographed by the crew of STS-132 as they disembarked. Credit: NASA

Fortunately, the station has rockets to increase its speed, and a faster speed means a higher orbit. It can even get assistance from docked spacecraft. If the space station were to go any lower, it would require higher and higher amounts of thrust to prevent re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere.

So what are the limits? Anything below 160 km altitude will essentially re-enter almost immediately, as it’s buffeted by the thicker atmosphere. You really wouldn’t last more than a few hours at that altitude, but above 800 km you could orbit for more than 100 years.

Geosynchronous satellites that orbit the Earth and transmit our television signals are at an altitude of about 42,000 km. Satellites that high are never coming back down. Well, maybe not never.

Want to enjoy your orbital experience? Make sure you get yourself to an altitude of at least 300 km, 400 km just to be safe. You should shoot for more like 800 km if you just don’t want to worry about things for a while.

Knowing these risks, would you be willing to travel to orbit with current technology? Tell us in the comments below.