Skip to main content

This link is exclusively for students and staff members within this organisation.

Unauthorised use will lead to account termination.

Previous

Clues

Next

The Nobel prize 100 years on

Orbits and astronauts

Why do astronauts on a spacewalk orbit the Earth and not their own spacecraft? The explanation involves the concept of a Hill sphere

An astronaut undertaking routine maintenance tasks on the International Space Station

The terms in bold link to topics in the AQA, Edexcel, OCR, WJEC and CCEA A-level specifications, as well as the IB, Pre-U and SQA exam specifications.

To understand the orbits of astronauts, moons and planets we use Newton’s law of gravitation and ideas about rotational motion.

Your organisation does not have access to this article.

Sign up today to give your students the edge they need to achieve their best grades with subject expertise

Subscribe

Previous

Clues

Next

The Nobel prize 100 years on

Related articles: