2 ms·
Very distant objects need very little speed to orbit, take for instance a geosynchronous orbit that orbits every 24 hours, which enables it to hover over the sa
by sliken 2y ago
Very distant objects need very little speed to orbit, take for instance a geosynchronous orbit that orbits every 24 hours, which enables it to hover over the same part of the equator indefinitely.
With a braking burn from geosync orbit your orbital period would keep decreasing from 24 hours as your orbital velocity keeps increasing. The ISS and similar low earth orbits have a period of 90 minutes.
Keep in mind if trying to speed up/catch another object you can just use more thrust and keep adjusting your angle. But it's fuel intensive and when you stop thrusting you might well be in a crazy orbit, very different than the target you are trying to catch.
There's a game called Osmos on most platforms that turns this kind of thing into a game, I recommend it. As mentioned elsewhere there's kerbel space program, however there's much more than orbital mechanics involved.