Generally, the only orbit that is controlled because location is key is the geostationary orbit at about 22,300 miles above the equator. A "graveyard orbit" for geostationary orbit would be about 150 miles higher. At this altitude there is virtually no atmospheric resistance, so a satellite's orbit decays very slowly. Adding another 150 miles to the altitude means that decay will take even longer, up to a few hundred years longer. The graveyard orbit doesn't permanently remove an old satellite from the geostationary belt; it just makes it somebody else's problem many generations from now. Due to perturbations, an old satellite will gradually get a little eccentricity and inclination in its orbit. Jeff Barker -----Original Message----- From: Jonathan T Wojack [mailto:tlj18@juno.com] Sent: Monday, June 04, 2001 2:06 PM To: SeeSat-L@blackadder.lmsal.com Subject: Graveyard Orbit From : >Once the useful life of a satellite has come to an end, which is usually due to running out of station-keeping or attitude >control propellant or due to degraded components, the satellite can become a hazard to other operational satellites. >This hazard can be minimized by moving the satellite to a seldom-used orbit, referred to as a "graveyard" orbit, or re- >entered and burned up in the atmosphere if it is in a low orbit, as was done with Mir, the aging Russian space station >that re-entered the atmosphere in March. Orbital safety can minimize the potential hazards of a satellite at the end of its >life by venting any pressurized tanks, to make safe any remaining pyrotechnic devices and to turn off transmitters. Does anyone know precisely what a "graveyard orbit" is like? i.e., what are the orbit parameters? ------------------------------ Jonathan T. Wojack tlj18@juno.com 39.706d N 75.683d W 4 hours behind UT (-4) ________________________________________________________________ GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO! Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less! Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/tagj. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe from SeeSat-L by sending a message with 'unsubscribe' in the SUBJECT to SeeSat-L-request@lists.satellite.eu.org http://www2.satellite.eu.org/seesat/seesatindex.html ----------------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe from SeeSat-L by sending a message with 'unsubscribe' in the SUBJECT to SeeSat-L-request@lists.satellite.eu.org http://www2.satellite.eu.org/seesat/seesatindex.html
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Mon Jun 04 2001 - 13:37:51 PDT