Search the Community
Showing results for tags 'momentum'.
Found 1 result
-
So I know that the reason an orbit works is that while gravity is pulling on the spacecraft downwards, the ship's momentum pushes it out from the planet, so there's a constant tug-of-war. I also know that the equation for momentum is mass * velocity. Now, if you increase a ship's velocity, the momentum increases, and you can increase in altitude. But here's the problem: the vis-viva equation (V=√GM(2/r-1/a)) for orbital velocity doesn't take into account the spacecraft's mass. Say there's two spacecraft in circular orbit around Kerbin at 100 Km above the surface. One is 90 tons, and the other is 200 tons. Wouldn't the 200 ton spacecraft orbit at a lower velocity than the 90 ton one, because then their momentums are equal? Thank you in advance.
