Fun with Satellites

[+mudsneaker]

So how long can you keep a satellite in orbit?

 

Have Fun!

 

I had a few stay up for nearly 24 hours before. I just left the window minimized and checked in once in awhile.

[+flask]

how do you make it work?

[+mudsneaker]

use your mouse. click somewhere on the screen with a bit of a push at the same time to "launch" a satellite. You can launch as many as you want at any time. Practice and you'll get the feel for best altitude and speed. The moon does have gravity too.

[+Dave_W6DPS]

To make it work you drag your mouse across the applet, and release satellites. The direction and speed of release determine the direction and speed of initial motion.

 

For extra credit--see how long you can keep one in lunar orbit!

 

(Hint--lower orbits are less affected by lunar gravity...)

 

Dave_W6DPS

Geek, and proud of it!

[Mushtang]

Do a high speed repeat click off to one corner as the moon approaches, and watch a dozen get slung around as the moon goes by.

[+StarBrand]

Oh the tragic horror and havoc I am causing the residents of that tiny little world as I fling flaming debris from my ill launched machines down upon thier peaceful little villages.

[+darus67]

for EXTRA extra credit, get one in a stable orbit at the L4 or L5 lagrange points

[+Syndam]

Oh the tragic horror and havoc I am causing the residents of that tiny little world as I fling flaming debris from my ill launched machines down upon thier peaceful little villages.

I know, fun isn't it.

[Mushtang]

I think I see a large monolith in orbit up there too.

[+CYBret]

Aaaah, newbies.

 

It was a very fun Markwell.

 

Bret

[+Mr. 0]

Oh no.....

 

I remember when this was posted in the above Markwelled thread. For some reason I seem to get addicted to that little site. I had forgotten all about it....until now. Well...here we go again.

[ParentsofSAM]

I finally got 3 in orbit but then one got sucked up by the moon and then came crashing back to Earth.

 

The other 2 are settled into a nice elliptical orbit...for now. I think they will crash into each other before too long. It has been a little over an hour so far.

[+mgbmusic]

started....

[+tenacityj]

Sweeeeeet! I have 2 in orbit around the earth and one that keeps switching from the moon to the earth and back.

[+TrailGators]

This is very cool! I got a bunch of them orbiting the Earth. It looks just like a Nascar race! I wonder which one will win!

Edited January 26, 2007 by TrailGators

[+mgbmusic]

started....

 

crashed...nevermind....

 

Heh...Started...

 

--MGb

[+TrailGators]

This is very cool! I got a bunch of them orbiting the Earth. It looks just like a Nascar race! I wonder which one will win!

I still have one going. It keeps going back and forth from a elliptical orbit to a circular orbit. C'mon baby!

[+TrailGators]

This is very cool! I got a bunch of them orbiting the Earth. It looks just like a Nascar race! I wonder which one will win!

I still have one going. It keeps going back and forth from a elliptical orbit to a circular orbit. C'mon baby!

My last one just crashed and that's what I'm gonna do now too...

[ParentsofSAM]

One crashed during the night but the other one is still going. But each time it goes close to the Moon it gets a little out of orbit.....I bet it is going to crash soon.

[+DresselDragons]

Oh the tragic horror and havoc I am causing the residents of that tiny little world as I fling flaming debris from my ill launched machines down upon thier peaceful little villages.

LOL! Me too!

[+DresselDragons]

Ooo....I got one going...10 orbits, and CRASH!

[+Travelinmatt76]

I wish the square was bigger, I have 2 that are outside of the moon's orbit and I can only see them as they pass through the corners

[+tands]

My favorite fun with sats is:

 

www.flashearth.com

 

unreal!

 

- T of TandS

[+Travelinmatt76]

What is the fastest orbit you can get? I have one that orbits 4 times a second.

[+CYBret]

In my years of playing with this toy I've realized that stable orbits are overrated. Get on that whips in a nice wide ellipses and you can keep it going for a long time.

 

Also, if you notice, every time you click the moon sorta jerks (you'll really notice it if you click and hold..when you release the moon will have moved but the satellites won't). Every time you do this you screw up your orbits a little bit.

 

Still, it's a lot of fun. Cool to release them and then come back to it later and see what's happening in your little world.

 

Bret

[+nekom]

Ok, I now know that if it were up to me to put up sattelites, GPS would NEVER work. Thanks, that's fun.

[+Gator Man]

Here's a link with all the successful real SATS now in orbit.

 

http://science.nasa.gov/RealTime/jtrack/3d/JTrack3D.html

[+Snake & Rooster]

Here's a link with all the successful real SATS now in orbit.

 

http://science.nasa.gov/RealTime/jtrack/3d/JTrack3D.html

 

 

 

And at least one of them has the name "Skynet"

 

Hopefully just some NASA geek's idea of fun.

[+wimseyguy]

Oh the tragic horror and havoc I am causing the residents of that tiny little world as I fling flaming debris from my ill launched machines down upon thier peaceful little villages.

You are just enjoying the global version of Ant City.

[+mudsneaker]

Oh the tragic horror and havoc I am causing the residents of that tiny little world as I fling flaming debris from my ill launched machines down upon thier peaceful little villages.

You are just enjoying the global version of Ant City.

 

the flaming dog ...I'm a cruel giant it says

 

 

9+ hrs and 3 Sats still going

[+DresselDragons]

I wish the square was bigger, I have 2 that are outside of the moon's orbit and I can only see them as they pass through the corners

I must have that too, 'cause every once in awhile, a satellite comes from nowhere and exits the screen.

[+DresselDragons]

Cool! I got one orbiting around the moon.

[+CYBret]

It's really cool to see this toy brought up again. With all the drama that we get into in these forums from time-to-time it's really neat to see that some things stay the same...we're the same bunch of techno-geeks that we were back in 2002 when we first started playing with this.

 

Hey, correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't geocaching involve the use of GPS satellites?

 

Bret

[+TheAlabamaRambler]

A really cool tracking site is this real-time view from space.

 

Set the view to Hybrid and zoom in maybe 4 times and take a virtual tour of the planet!

[ParentsofSAM]

I am sad to report that after 14 hours my satellite crashed in a giant fire ball into Earth. How sad!

[+mudsneaker]

A really cool tracking site is this real-time view from space.

 

Set the view to Hybrid and zoom in maybe 4 times and take a virtual tour of the planet!

 

dang, thought it was going to pass overhead for awhile, but now can see its headed wayy south. to bad, I wanted to wave.

 

 

and at about 11 hrs the last of my satellites burned up in the atmosphere. time to launch a new cluster.

[+oldnavy59]

Ive got one that is still going strong after 19 hours

[+HangnMoss]

I wish the square was bigger, I have 2 that are outside of the moon's orbit and I can only see them as they pass through the corners

 

I've got three in what I refer to as a 'Haley's Comet' orbit. They only pass through about once a month, assuming one revolution of the moon is a month. I'd like to see more screen, too, and maybe enough screen to include the sun and it's gravitational effect.

[+flask]

Cool! I got one orbiting around the moon.

 

i was just going to ask if anyone had been able to do that...

[+Cedar Grove Seekers]

Cool! I got one orbiting around the moon.

 

i was just going to ask if anyone had been able to do that...

The most I could get was four orbits around the moon.

[+flask]

bump because i'm too lazy to search later on...

[+Lakeshore Geocachers]

Ok...we can officially place "rocket scientist" off my possible career choices...of 30k (or so it seemed) placed into orbit, only two survived for any length of time...kind of like Kenny G albums..make enough of them and maybe...

[+Thorminator]

So how long can you keep a satellite in orbit?

*Argh!*

What have you done???

I'm supposed to be working now!!!

[+Arndtwe]

ha, dude thats awsome!

[+Damenace]

So how long can you keep a satellite in orbit?

 

Have Fun!

 

I had a few stay up for nearly 24 hours before. I just left the window minimized and checked in once in awhile.

 

Going on two hours of keeping a satelite going. Had to adjust my power options on my computer so I can let it run all night. Will see what happens by morning.

[mtbikernate]

I've got one with a really cool elliptical orbit around the moon. It makes a really close pass by the moon, swings between the moon and the earth, and outside the square. It slows down and starts swinging back towards the earth, where the moon passes by, catches it, and swings it back outside the square. It's been going for about 5 min now, but the orbit is never the same. It'll crash soon for sure (or get tossed so much it leaves entirely).

[+Damenace]

Well much to my surprise I woke up this morning to see that it is still going. It seems rather stable and I am no where near the moon so the gravitational pull is not effected. The actual satellite only rotates no farther than 1.5" from the earth, of course the closet it gets is around .25".

 

I am sure that it will last well past the 24 hour mark.

Edited February 4, 2007 by Damenace

[+mudsneaker]

Just lost the last one of a huge amount I launched at the same time yesterday. Made it 22 hours.

 

I notice that the ones going clockwise seem to last longer. It might just be I launch better that way, I dont know. Is that something anyone else is having too?

Edited February 4, 2007 by mudsneaker

[+pghlooking]

Well much to my surprise I woke up this morning to see that it is still going. It seems rather stable and I am no where near the moon so the gravitational pull is not effected. The actual satellite only rotates no farther than 1.5" from the earth, of course the closet it gets is around .25".

 

I am sure that it will last well past the 24 hour mark.

Show off.

[mtbikernate]

I would imagine that clockwise would be the best revolution pattern for this simulation. I've tried running them counter clockwise, but even when they're close to the earth, the moon grabs them and pulls them farther and farther away. The ones I have in clockwise orbit move between more circular patterns and more elliptical patterns.

 

I've got 10 out that have been going for a few hours now. The ones I released last night around 11 scorched some peasants sometime in the overnight hours.