Is there is an effect due to the Earth's equatorial bulge? When the satellite is at the extremes of its angular track does the bulge pull it into more of an equatorial orbit? Obviously this will be a very small effect because the earth is almost spherical - but is it significant for LEOs? Marcus Massey Lat: 51.4833 deg Lon: 0.0000 deg -----Original Message----- From: Brierley David [mailto:DMBRIERLEY@dera.gov.uk] Sent: 22 May 2000 09:12 To: 'Satellite Observers' Subject: FW: Orbital Mechanics Question. Jonathan > Can a satellite's inclination ever decrease over time, without > thruster > firings or other interventions? > > ================================================================ > Jonathan T. Wojack > tlj18@juno.com > Yes, the inclination of low earth orbit satellites decreases continuously because of the strong upper-atmosphere westerly wind, which is just the atmosphere rotating with the Earth. Also the inclination of a satellite oscillates when it passes through a resonance. The best-known resonance is when a satellite doing 15 revs/day has the same ground track every day. If the satellite takes months to pass through the resonance, the effect is large enough to be seen in US Space Com elsets. David. David M Brierley Malvern, Worcestershire, UK Station 2675, 52.1358N 2.3264W 70m -- The Information contained in this E-Mail and any subsequent correspondence is private and is intended solely for the intended recipient(s). For those other than the recipient any disclosure, copying, distribution, or any action taken or omitted to be taken in reliance on such information is prohibited and may be unlawful. ----------------------------------------------------------------- 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
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