Aliens or Satellites Burning Up?
(www.youtube.com)
You're viewing a single comment thread. View all comments, or full comment thread.
Comments (23)
sorted by:
Going from West to East is prograde, not retrograde. The Earth rotates to the East. The sun and stars appear to go from East to West when viewed from the Earth because we are moving the opposite direction. Satellites typically travel eastward because they gain speed from the rotation of the Earth. For orbital physics the velocity needed is independent of the rotation of the Earth, not relative to it. So the starting speed of the Earth’s rotation aids a prograde orbit and hampers a retrograde orbit.
Right you are, I was operating on only one cup of coffee when I wrote that. But the question remains, why are a few of the visible satellites at the beginning of the vid going in the opposite direction of the majority of satellites?
There are satellites that orbit East to West. It just takes more fuel to get them into orbit. Likewise with polar orbits.