Hello, I've been studying _Fundamentals of Astrodynamics_ and have a question on the material that is on pp. 156-159. Specifically, concerning the regression of the line-of-nodes due to the oblate shape of the Earth. It says that prograde (west-to-east) orbits will have westward nodal regression, whereas for retrograde (east-to-west) orbits, it is eastward nodal regression. Is the following correct: The line-of-nodes is a point on the Earth surface at an inclination of 0d where a satellite's orbital path intersects the equator. For a prograde orbit, as the low-altitude satellite approaches the equator, the small (but definite) equatorial bulge of the Earth pulls on the satellite, causing the satellite's flight path to intersect the equator at a slightly earlier time (i.e., further west than without the equatorial bulge). ------------------------------ 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/web/. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe from SeeSat-L by sending a message with 'unsubscribe' in the SUBJECT to SeeSat-L-request@lists.satellite.eu.org http://www.satellite.eu.org/seesat/seesatindex.html
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Mon May 20 2002 - 18:25:35 EDT