LEO: All about Low Earth Orbits

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• Low Earth Orbits

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   Low Earth Orbits                                                                                                                                                                                                                        Updated July 2022

  Written by: Kathy Gustavson
  Grade (Age) level: High School (ages 14-18), University

  This course is to help students focus on their efforts in the task of learning about Low earth orbits: their characteristics, advantages and disadvantages. 

  
  Topic areas: Intro to projectiles, speed, period, and launching of LEOs. Examples of uses. Problems with space debris.

  Image courtesy of Ardusat: https://www.ardusat.com/about

  
  
   Low earth orbit  (a LEO) is defined by its altitude.

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    News forum about LEO launches Foro

• 1. Introduction to LEOs

    The mission of Enterprise In Space was to build, launch, operate, and later return to Earth an orbiter containing student experiments.
  The orbit of the NSS Enterprise, was an altitude between 160 km (99 miles) and 2,000 km (1, 200 miles). This orbit is called a Low Earth Orbit -a LEO. Any altitude lower than approximately 99 miles (160 km) will encounter rapid orbital decay, with the most significant effect being atmospheric drag, leading to eventual termination of the orbit, (yes, that means it crashes!).

  
  

  
  Since 1972, all human explorations have been in low earth orbits (or were suborbital), with the exception of the Apollo program. The highest altitude for human spaceflight in LEO was Gemini 11, whose apogee (furthest distance from earth,) was 1,374.1 kilometers (853.8 miles). The International Space Station (altitude about 250 miles) operates in LEO, as does the Hubble Space Telescope, and a big percentage of all other satellites.

  SpaceEdge Academy has a project titled Satellites- Understanding How they Work! MS , which is a good introduction to satellite motion at the middle school level. Here, in this current project, you will further your understanding of satellites , both conceptually and mathematically.
  

  The quiz, "What do you know about LEO orbits?", will assess what you already know about orbits.

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    What do you know about LEO orbits? Cuestionario

• 2. It Starts as a Projectile . . .

  In order to understand why a satellite simply does not fall to Earth, you need to understand some things about projectile motion,

  The Physics Classroom is a great resource (http://www.physicsclassroom.com/), and is the source of the following:

  Parabolic Motion of Projectiles

  A projectile is an object upon which the only force is gravity. Gravity, being a downward force, causes a projectile to accelerate in the downward direction. The force of gravity could never alter the horizontal velocity of an object since perpendicular components of motion are independent of each other: A vertical force does not effect a horizontal speed. The result of a vertical force acting upon a horizontally moving object is to cause the object to deviate from its otherwise linear path, but does not change its speed. This is depicted in the animation below. 

  
  

  According to Newton's law of inertia, an object in motion in a horizontal direction would continue in its horizontal motion with the same horizontal speed and direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced horizontal force. The animation above shows a green sphere moving to the right at constant speed. The horizontal distance traveled in each second is a constant value. The red sphere undergoes a vertically accelerated motion which is typical of an object upon which only the force of gravity acts. If these two motions are combined - vertical free fall motion and constant horizontal motion - then the trajectory will be that of a parabola. An object which begins with an initial horizontal velocity and is acted upon only by the force of gravity will follow the path of the blue sphere. It will travel the same horizontal distance in each consecutive second but will fall vertically a greater distance in each consecutive second. The result is a parabolic path as shown in the animation above.
  

  The most important thing to understand about projectile motion is the idea of the horizontal speed.

  If you would like to understand more about projectile motion, this link will take you to the tutorial in the Physics Classroom:
                 http://www.physicsclassroom.com/Class/vectors/u3l2a.cfm

  
  

  Homework:

  1. Use Journal 2a: Questions Concerning Projectile Motion, to answer the following questions about projectile motion:
  a.) What is meant by "inertia"?
  b.) Is there a force acting in the horizontal direction? What evidence is there for your answer?
  c.) Is there a force acting in the vertical direction? What is your evidence?
  d.) Describe the vertical and horizontal motion of the blue ball.
  e.) In your own words, describe three different types of projectiles

  2. Use the discussion Forum below, "Projectiles", to post an image of what you think is a projectile. Discuss why you think it is a projectile.
  Then, comment on someone else's image - are they correct in identifying the object as a true projectile?

  
  

  
  

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    Journal 2a: Questions Concerning Projectile Motion Diario
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    "Projectiles" Foro
  •  What is needed for a projectile to become a satellite?

    The force of gravity controls a projectile, and therefore a satellite. The force of gravity pulls an object toward the center of the earth whether it's dropped, tossed horizontally, or tossed at any angle. The "tossing" (or whatever force it is given other than in the vertical direction)  gives a "sideways" speed to the object. This sideways speed is why an object travels horizontally while gravity is pulling it vertically. Give it a fast enough sideways speed and the object will follow the curvature of the earth as it falls. Get it above the atmosphere and it will circle the earth in an orbit - then we call it a satellite! Isaac Newton understood this well:

    

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    Satellite Motion - A Tutorial from The Physics Classroom URL

    The above link is a one page summary of satellite motion.
    Please read it and answer these questions in Journal 2b: Satellite Motion:
    a.) What are the forces acting on a satellite?
    b.) How would a satellite move in the absence of gravity?
    c.) In what direction does gravity accelerate an object?
    d.) What is the curvature of the earth?
    e.) How far does an object fall in the first second?
    f.) How fast horizontally must a satellite move to fall around the earth?
    g.) What is the result if the satellite is given a lesser speed?
    h.) What is the result if the satellite is given a greater speed?
    i.) Is there an upper limit on the speed a satellite can be given and still orbit the earth? 
    

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    Journal 2b: Satellite Motion Diario

• 3. Speed, Period, and Launch of LEO Satellites

  A satellite would need to have a sideways speed of about 8 km/s if it was right above the surface of the earth. The force of gravity lessens as you move further from the earth, and hence, the orbital velocity needed is lower - approximately 7.8 km/s for a stable LEO. How fast is this in miles per hour? Using the fact there are 1609 meters in one mile and 3600 seconds in one hour, we find 7.8 km/s is equal to 17,451.8 miles per hour! 
  For a circular orbit of 200 km (124 mi), the orbital speed is 7.79 km/s. and for 1500 km it is 7.12 km/s.
  

  
  An object right above the surface of the earth would encounter atmospheric drag - in fact, anything below 160 km (99 mi) experiences very rapid orbital decay. Objects above 160 km in LEO do encounter some atmospheric drag from gases in the thermosphere or exosphere, depending on orbital altitude. This drag will degrade the orbit - that is, it will slow the object's horizontal speed. This decrease in speed would cause the object to get closer to the earth, eventually crashing into it. Therefore, the drag requires a slightly greater velocity to maintain a stable LEO. 
  See "Layers of The Atmosphere - NOAA" below to learn more about the density of air in the different layers.

  The period of an orbit refers to the time it takes for one complete orbit.
  

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    Layers of the Atmosphere - NASA URL

    Optional link to discover more details!

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    Journal 3a: Speed and Period of LEO Orbits Diario
  • Use Journal 3a: Speed and Period of LEO Orbits to answer the following questions:
    a.) Do you think an orbit closer to the earth has a longer period or a shorter period?
    To answer this question, think about the horizontal speed the satellite has:
    b.) When is it faster, near the earth, or further away? 
    c.) When the object is moving faster, does it cover more distance or less distance?
    d.) Could you write a general rule about the speed, period, and distance the satellite orbits from the earth?
    

  • What is involved in Launching a satellite?
    Recall what type of speed is required to keep an object falling around the earth instead of into it. This large "sideways" speed is parallel to the surface of the earth. But how does it get up to the altitude needed for that particular satellite?
    

    
    

    This diagram is from a NASA site that has a nice description of what is necessary to launch. Almost all satellites use conventional chemical rockets for launch (bipropellant or solid-fuel).

    Using this link, 
    Rocket Education - NASA
    Answer the following questions in Journal 3b: Rocket Launches:
    a.) Why does the weight of a rocket change?
    b.) Why is drag (atmospheric friction) small even though the rocket is traveling faster than the speed of sound?
    c.) What does the 2nd stage achieve?
    d.) Do you understand Kepler's equation? What does "sqrt" stand for?
    e.) You can try the Java calculator or the RocketModelerII simulation programs if desired.

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    Journal 3b: Rocket Launches Diario

• 4. Uses and Examples of LEOs

  A low Earth orbit (LEO) is the simplest and cheapest way to place a satellite into orbit.
  It is used  for things that need to be visited, updated, or fixed, like the International Space Station and the Hubble Space Telescope. People can go into orbit, do experiments or fix things, and return in a relatively short period of time.
  The image below is from Wikipedia. Take a look at it now, you will see it again and answer questions about it:

  A perfectly scaled diagram showing the orbital altitudes of several significant satellites of earth. all planets and orbital distances are drawn to scale and the altitude data was collected from many Wikipedia articles and various other sites. Rrakanishu - Own work

  Examples:
  A. Earth Observation satellites and spy satellites, since they are not so far from the Earth, are able to see the surface in more detail. Their 90 minute orbit also allows the satellites to cover (traverse) more area.

  B. Many communication satellites use LEO because it requires less energy to get into the orbit,  and less powerful amplifiers for transmission of signals. A subset of LEO's are (hot link): ELEO, equatorial low earth orbits (a link to a short, interesting, article). In order to get continuous coverage over parts of the Earth, a network or constellation of satellites is use. Some also use (hot link) Highly Elliptical Orbits - click on the link to learn more.

  This video shows an animation of satellites in LEO as of 2015

  Animation is from NASA's scientific visualization studio (Visualizations by Greg Shirah on February 26, 2015)
  If you would like to find out anything about a satellite shown, click here.

  C. The International Space Station is about 400 km (250 mi) above the Earth in a LEO.
  
  

   This is a video from the space station as it passes over Asia at night:    

  
  

  D. Hubble Space Telescope, launched in LEO in 1990, orbits at an altitude of of approximately 540 km (335 mi). Its period of revolution is 95.47 minutes. Being in LEO allows this telescope to be above the distortion of the atmosphere, yet in range of being serviced, although its last service mission was concluded in 2009. Orbital decay is expected to happen between 2030 and 2040. A new space telescope, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is expected to launch in October of 2018. It will not orbit the earth, instead it will orbit the sun!
            
  

  James Webb Telescope on the left, Hubble Space Telescope on the right, NASA images.

  Now return to the Wikipedia diagram at the beginning of this section. Answer the following question in Journal 4: Questions about the Wikipedia diagram:
  a.) State the names (and color code) of the three zones.
  b.) Where are GPS satellites? What is their orbital time?
  c.) Where are GEO satellites? Describe.

  
  

  
  

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    Journal 4: Questions about the Wikipedia diagram Diario

• 5. What about Space Debris?

   Low Earth Orbit has become congested with space debris. This is cause for a growing concern since collisions at orbital velocities can be dangerous. Collisions can produce even more space debris with a domino process called the Kessler syndrome (click to find out more) . NASA is currently tracking 8,500 objects larger than 10 cm in LEO, but there is probably a lot more. It is estimated there are about 600,000 pieces between 1 cm and 10 cm.
  Space debris is becoming an international problem as more and more countries are launching satellites. Soon, launches into any orbit will be at a great risk of damage as the debris cloud gets bigger.
  The NASA image on the left shows debris in all orbits, not just LEO. The higher orbits are more difficult to clear since there is much less drag. LEO has an advantage in that the slight atmospheric drag helps de-orbit some of the space junk bring slowing it down and therefore crashing into the earth (and hopefully into the ocean!)

  This topic has several links listed below for you to look at and read, including a Cybrary link on the mitigation of orbital space debris (ODSM ECE). 
  
  

  
  

  Answer the following questions (they refer to all the links) in Journal 5: Space Debris:

  a. What is the 25-year rule?
  b. What does IADC stand for?
  c. Comment on the video.
  d. What does 'GOLD' stand for? Describe it.
  e. What is the student competition about?
  

  Please add to the discussion at the end of the cybrary.

  
  

  
  

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    Journal 5: Space Debris Diario
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    ODSM ECE Cybrary link

    Orbital Debris Space Mitigation Center for Excellence Contest.

    After selecting the ODSM link and participating in the discussion, click your browser's back button to return to LEO.

    Discuss
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    International Astronautic Congress 2013 - Space Debris Discussion? URL

    Read this short article to give you an idea of international thought on space debris in 2013.

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    Trash Collector for Space? URL

    An interesting idea for de-orbiting satellites.

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    Satellites Collide in Orbit URL

    This Astronomy Picture of the Day from Feb 18, 2009, describes a collision and result between two satellites.

• 6. Cost? Laws?

  Space law is currently under the United Nations. The Outer Space Treaty is the mostly widely adopted (103 nations). The UN developed a "Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space" (COPUOS) in 1959. This has resulted in five treaties, with the Outer Space Treaty being the most successful. 
  As private companies become more involved in launching and maintaining satellites, there has been a call in the United Nations for more laws or treaties to oversee the likely rapid expansion. As more and more use Low Earth Orbit, rules and regulations need to be understood and reinforced so space debris does not make the journey to any orbit more dangerous.

  International Astronautical Congress (IAC) (source: Wikipedia)

  Every year, the International Astronautical Federation together with the International Academy of Astronautics and the International Institute of Space Law (IISL), holds the International Astronautical Congress (IAC) which is hosted by one of the national society members of the IAF. They are an annual meeting of the actors in the discipline of space, and are generally held in late September or early October. They consist of plenary sessions, lectures and meetings. The IAC is attended by the agency heads and senior executives of the world's space agencies.
  

  Using Journal 6: Cost? Laws?, Answer the following questions:
  1. Where was the last IAC meeting?
  2. Where will it be next year?
  3. What kind of things did they discuss/ (hint - find a program)
  4. Click on one of the links in the Wikipedia source above to find out more about either the Federation, Academy, or Institute. Write a few sentences describing it.
  5. There is some material available online about the cost of launching payloads. Find out a few numbers and list them in this journal.
  

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    Journal 6: Cost? Laws? Diario

• 7. What have you learned about LEOs?

   This satellite map from ESRI is a fun and educational tool. Your final project is to first play with the controls to see what the site offers. Then either pick a satellite and find out what you can about it, including its orbit, purpose, etc. Or you can pick any country except the US or Russia and find out how many satellites they have launched, what type, where are they, etc.
  Take a screen shot of the satellite(s) you are discussing and post it on the padlet listed below. Also post at least two paragraphs describing your findings on the satellite(s).

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    Satellite Mapping from ERSI URL

    This is tool that lets you see where where and who and what the satellites are.

    Answer these questions in Journal 8: Satellites

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    Satellite Project Padlet URL

• 8. Course Feedback and Survey

  Please let us know your thoughts about this course by using the Reflection Forum  for LEO below
  

  • What was your favorite activity? 
  • What was the most important part of the course for you? 
  • Are there any areas that need improvement? 
  • How was the length of the course? 
  • Any additional comments

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  After you use the discussion forum, please answer the BRIEF Course Survey for LEO questions in the link below.

  Thank You!!!

  
  

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    Reflection Forum Foro
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    Course Survey for LEO URL

    Brief!

• Send a Postcard to Space!

  Send a Postcard to Space through NSS Supported Blue Origin Club For The Future initiative!

  Visit: SpacEdge Academy Postcards in Space Course