Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by CoastalCoder 830 days ago
> Hopefully I'm not embarrassing myself with this question, but:

Yup, I'm kind of embarrassed :) I forgot that maintaining orbit is just a matter of falling at the same pace that the earth is falling away from you.
2 comments
mmh0000 830 days ago
If you've never tried it, I highly recommend playing Kerbel Space Program[1] (it works on Linux, Mac, and Windows!).

That game taught me so much about orbital mechanics, which led to rabbit holes of textbooks and videos[2].

The first big lesson KSP taught me was: why, when launching a rocket, you don't just go straight up but, instead, have to lean over pretty aggressively.

[1] https://store.steampowered.com/app/220200/Kerbal_Space_Progr...

[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhYqflvJMXc

link
flainne 830 days ago
> maintaining orbit is just a matter of falling at the same pace that the earth is falling away from you

Perhaps a better visualization: moving sideways fast enough that you miss the earth? :)

link