9 Aug
2011
9 Aug
'11
4:18 a.m.
On 8/8/11 6:09 AM, Alan P. Biddle wrote:
Rich,
Orbital dynamics are not all that intuitive.
That's absolutely right. Some historical trivia: even NASA tripped over this in the early days. When the Gemini IV crew tried to rendezvous with their spent booster, they kept missing. They were trying to fly the capsule as if it were an airplane, or maybe a boat floating on the water (only in 3D) but things just didn't work that way. Everything seemed to work in reverse, like that old Star Trek episode with the giant space amoeba.