How Do Satellites Get Into Space?
Rapp–They are launched into orbit on rockets and sometimes the space shuttle takes them up. ICON HERE gravity Geostationary THD–OK, but how do they stay up there? Why don’t they fall back to Earth? Experiment here: Rapp–Satellites stay in orbit around a planet by a force called gravity. Here, let’s do an experiment. I have a ball with a string attached to it. Pretend you are the Earth and hold the string. Now begin to whirl the ball over your head. THD–This is cool, but satellites don’t have strings attached to them do they? Rapp–No. Gravity IS the “string” that holds the satellites in orbit. By swinging the ball, you are giving it forward motion or momentum, just like the rockets do for the satellites. If the string was not acting on the ball, it would fly off in one direction. THD–Oh, I get it. So if we didn’t have gravity, the satellites would fly off into space. Rapp–Very good. When the momentum and gravity are equal, the satellite stays in orbit. THD–I saw on the NASA Lang
