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Space Exploration

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  • $\begingroup$ Wouldn't the orientation of the two objects get messed up as they orbit? 180 degrees around the orbit, the trailing object is going to wind up in front of the leader. If they're attached by a string, then even if the "lead" satellite is rotating to stay pointed prograde, the trailing satellite is going to constantly try to wrap the tow cable around it. (or more accurately, the string and trailer are retaining orientation relative to the fixed stars and the leader is rotating to keep its nose pointed prograde, so the leader is the one turning and wrapping the tow cable around itself...) $\endgroup$ Commented Jan 10, 2024 at 15:51
  • $\begingroup$ Assume the satellites start out attached, one above the another, with the string direction normal to the Earth's surface. If you cut the string, what would happen? Answer: The lower sat will be at the apogee of its elliptical orbit and the upper sat will be at the perigee of its elliptical orbit. Therefore, orbital mechanics will not let them get closer to each other. So the tow cable can't get wrapped around a sat. $\endgroup$ Commented Jan 10, 2024 at 21:27
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    $\begingroup$ Forget the rope. Imagine you're standing on one satellite, and the other is above your head and the earth below your feet, facing the direction of travel. Neither satellite is rotating with respect to the stars. As you orbit the earth, the satellite above you will stay put, but you'll see the earth rise up behind you, go over your head, and come down in front of you until it's back below your feet when you get back to your original point in the orbit. Over the course of that orbit, you started out facing prograde, halfway around you were facing retrograde, and you end up prograde. $\endgroup$ Commented Jan 10, 2024 at 21:42
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    $\begingroup$ But if you want to fire a thruster the whole time, you can't just face one way with respect to the stars. You need to rotate the satellite so that it always faces prograde. And if you do that, then the earth stays put from your perspective, and satellite "above" is going to orbit around you as you move. Put the string in, and now it's going to slowly wrap around you. $\endgroup$ Commented Jan 10, 2024 at 21:44
  • $\begingroup$ Ok, this rescue idea probably works best for nadir-pointing satellites. For a star-stationary satellite, like the Hubble space telescope, it isn't a good solution as proposed. Keep in mind that even when the thruster is firing, the string is still more-or-less normal to the surface of the Earth. I'm not following your logic in the second comment though. Don't think "orbit around you as you move" is correct. $\endgroup$ Commented Jan 10, 2024 at 22:02