Areosynchronous orbit

Areosynchronous orbit

Areosynchronous orbits are class of synchronous orbits for artificial satellites around the planet Mars. As with all synchronous orbits, an areosynchronous orbit has an orbital period equal in length to Mars' sidereal day. A satellite in areosynchronous orbit does "not" necessarily maintain a fixed position in the sky as seen by an observer on the surface of Mars, however such a satellite will return to the same apparent position every Martian day.

An areosynchronous orbit that is equatorial (in the same plane as the equator of Mars), circular, and prograde (rotating about Mars' axis in the same direction as the planet's surface) is known as an areostationary orbit (ASO). To an observer on the surface of Mars, the position of a satellite in ASO would appear to be fixed in a constant position in the sky. The ASO is analogous to a geostationary orbit (GSO) about Earth.

Although no satellites currently occupy areosynchronous or areostationary orbits, some scientists foresee a future telecommunications network for the exploration of Mars.

ee also

*Areostationary orbit
*List of orbits

References

External links

* [http://marsnet.jpl.nasa.gov/elements/marsats.html Mars Network - Marsats] - NASA site devoted to future communications infrastructure for Mars exploration


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужна курсовая?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Orbit — This article is about orbits in celestial mechanics, due to gravity. For other uses, see Orbit (disambiguation). A satellite orbiting the Earth has a tangential velocity and an inward acceleration …   Wikipedia

  • Orbit of the Moon — Not to be confused with Lunar orbit in the sense of a selenocentric orbit, that is, an orbit around the Moon The Moon completes its orbit around the Earth in approximately 27.3 days (a sidereal month). The Earth and Moon orbit about their… …   Wikipedia

  • Orbit equation — In astrodynamics an orbit equation defines the path of orbiting body around central body relative to , without specifying position as a function of time. Under standard assumptions, a body moving under the influence of a force, directed to a… …   Wikipedia

  • Orbit phasing — In astrodynamics orbit phasing is the adjustment of the time position of spacecraft along its orbit, usually described as adjusting the orbiting spacecraft s true anomaly. This is predominantly used in satellite positioning, especially if the… …   Wikipedia

  • Geocentric orbit — Earth orbit redirects here. For the motion of the Earth around the Sun, see Earth s orbit. Earth orbiter redirects here. For the shuttle simulator, see Earth Orbiter 1. The following words may have more than one definition or other non Earth… …   Wikipedia

  • Geostationary orbit — Geostationary orbit.To an observer on the rotating Earth (fixed point on the Earth), the satellite appears stationary in the sky. A red satellite is also geostationary above its own point on Earth. Top Down View …   Wikipedia

  • Molniya orbit — For other uses, see Molniya (disambiguation). Figure 1: The Molniya orbit. Usually the period from perigee + 2 hours to perigee + 10 hours is used to transmit to the northern hemisphere Molniya orbit is a type of highly elliptical orbit with an… …   Wikipedia

  • Elliptic orbit — A small body in space orbits a large one (like a planet around the sun) along an elliptical path, with the large body being located at one of the ellipse foci …   Wikipedia

  • Sun-synchronous orbit — Diagram showing the orientation of a Sun synchronous orbit (green) in four points of the year. A non sun synchronous orbit (magenta) is also shown for reference A Sun synchronous orbit (sometimes called a heliosynchronous orbit) is a geocentric… …   Wikipedia

  • Circular orbit — For other meanings of the term orbit , see orbit (disambiguation) A circular orbit is the orbit at a fixed distance around any point by an object rotating around a fixed axis. Below we consider a circular orbit in astrodynamics or celestial… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”