Can An Areosynchronous Satellite Maintain A Stable Orbit?
Earth has many satellites orbiting it in a special place. Thirty-seven thousand kilometers above the surface of the Earth, a satellite in a circular orbit is said to be in a geosynchronous orbit. The satellite orbits the planet in exactly 23 hours and 56 minutes, the same amount of time it takes the Earth to rotate once. Therefore, the satellite always stays above the same part of the Earth. Such satellites are useful for communications and weather observation. If humans are to ever colonize the planet Mars, areosynchronous satellites that hover over the same portion of Martian surface would also be useful for communication and observation. The areosynchronous satellites would have to orbit 20,400 km from the center of Mars.This would give them the right speed to exactly pace the planet’s rotation. There might be a problem, however. Unlike Earth, Mars has a natural satellite, Deimos, orbiting only 3,000 km above the areosynchronous region. It also has another natural satellite, Phobos,
