reply to post by TKainZero
Just because someone worked for NASA does not make them a space shuttle expert, you're being too hard on your professor. There are lots of other NASA
programs that have nothing to do with shuttle ops, and obviously that is what he worked in. I would have to guess that he worked in an astronomy
program of some type.
As to why it takes so long, JRA gave the correct answer, and you can check in the other Secret Space station thread that I gave almost the exact same
answer. In case you do not understand what that answer means I’ll try and clarify it some.
When you place an object in orbit the faster it moves the further out form the planet it’s orbit ends up being. So they insert the shuttle to be in
an orbit that is lower and slightly faster then the ISS, while being on the exact same trajectory. Time allows the shuttle to slowly creep up on the
station and slowly gain orbit altitude to the same level as the station. Its done this way intentionally as these objects do not maneuver like objects
in movies do, and each step has to be done very slowly, and precisely because any collision between them could be deadly for both the ISS and the
shuttle. So for instance if the shuttle slowed down too much, its altitude would drop below the space station and it would miss its target, if it went
to fast it would overshoot to a higher orbit. They cannot just apply the breaks if they are coming in too fast, or turn around and try again if they
miss. If they miss they can try and hit it on the next orbit that brings the two into close enough contact, which may be 200 orbits later. This is why
they could not take the Columbia back up to the space station like folks thought they should, when they realized it was damaged.
This stuff from John and Zargon is not factual, its full of holes, and mostly based on speculation, you should enjoy the read, but take it for what it
is and with a grain of salt. I mean a page ago they did not even realize that a spacecraft has to vent heat through heat dissipation radiators.
[edit on 10/24/2007 by defcon5]
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