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How the Shuttle Stays in Orbit
After the spacecraft is boosted above the Earth's atmosphere, it must be given enough
forward speed along the curvature of the Earth to keep it from falling to the ground. If the
spacecraft is given enough speed to put it in orbit around the Earth, gravity will keep it in
this orbit.
There are four ways of how the Shuttle stays in orbit:
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- CASE A: If the spacecraft is given enough speed to put it in orbit around
the Earth, gravity will keep it in this orbit.
- CASE B: The object's forward motion is still slow enough so that
gravity causes the flight path to curve downward faster than the rate that the surface of the
Earth curves downward.
- CASE C: The object's forward motion is fast enough so that gravity
causes its flight path to curve downward at the same rate that the Earth's surface curves
downward. The object is in a circular orbit.
- CASE D: The object's forward motion is fast enough where the Earth's
surface curves downward faster than the object's flight path. The object is in an elliptical
orbit and initially gains altitude even though it was not thrown upward.
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