This is a really useful article that ha
This is a really useful article that has cleared up several things for me. Like, why do space rockets turn and fly so much sideways after launch? The image below is the key point - that space isn't far away as we often think.
Orbital Speed
Shared with: Public
Reshared by: Andrew Robertson, Jeff Fryer
Hans Havermann - 2013-08-15 12:53:58+0000 - Updated: 2013-08-15 20:26:09+0000
People's idea of (outer) space must surely be varied. I imagine the notion as some intersection of the absence of atmosphere and the absence of gravity. When Randall Munroe talks of space not being that far away, it's all the former. But even if one gives relative import to the latter, that conception is problematic. In orbit, one has not escaped gravity, only the local perception of it.
Tim Hutton - 2013-08-20 12:19:19+0000
I've only just realised what he meant by "If you're in Sacramento ... space is closer than the sea." He doesn't mean sea level he means the horizontal distance to the coast.
Hans Havermann - 2013-08-20 17:12:04+0000
:) A lot of assuming accompanies everyday (mis)comprehension.
This post was originally on Google+