So the loss in speed of the sattelite and consequensial need for a "boost" in orbit will nulify the energy genreation? This makes sense. I think the generated energy probably came at least in origin from the rockets that boosted the shuttle to that orbit in the first place. Along this line of reasoning, the shuttle just collected some kind of "magnetic friction" and released it as electricity. But still can't produce more than it took to establish thee orbit in the first place? What goes up must come down huh?


[edit on 30-1-2005 by spike]

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Don't the moon and Earth orbit the Sun as a system?
The moon is slowly slipping away from the Earth.
When we lose it won't that leave the Earth alone, light, and spiralling away from the Sun?
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Originally posted by spike
So the loss in speed of the sattelite and consequensial need for a "boost" in orbit will nulify the energy genreation? This makes sense. I think the generated energy probably came at least in origin from the rockets that boosted the shuttle to that orbit in the first place. Along this line of reasoning, the shuttle just collected some kind of "magnetic friction" and released it as electricity. But still can't produce more than it took to establish thee orbit in the first place? What goes up must come down huh?

If you're referring to a sattelite orbiting the earth creating power, it can in fact create more power than it took to put the sattelite in orbit. In essence, the sattelite could produce power forever, or at least as long as the earths retains a magentic field. Because the sattelite is in orbit around the earth, it would not cause the earth's physical motion to decay at all (as it would if it merely passed by an object).

It would however cause the magnetic field to decay, but this effect is extremely small. This sattelite would operate on the exact same principle as an electric generator using "permenant" magnets orbited by a wire coil. These have been shown to last a very, very, long time.

Originally posted by slank
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Don't the moon and Earth orbit the Sun as a system?
The moon is slowly slipping away from the Earth.
When we lose it won't that leave the Earth alone, light, and spiralling away from the Sun?
.

The reason the moon is slipping away is that the earth's rotation is slowing down due ocean friction. The angular momentum of the system must be convserved, and in order to compensate, the moon moves further.