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by nickparker
3353 days ago
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The trouble with using elliptical orbits to get low and close is that you're going incredibly fast at that altitude. This spells trouble both because you spend a small fraction of your time above your target, and because drag is proportional to the square of velocity, mitigating any savings there. We do have uses for highly elliptical orbits, but they're usually used for long residency times on their high side. The Molniya orbit is a prototypical example. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molniya_orbit |
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