Is orbit just falling?
An object in orbit is constantly falling, and falling is what causes “weightlessness.” Gravity acts on you even while you are in orbit, and therefore you still have weight. But what is missing is the familiar sensation of weight. Without air resistance, all objects fall at the same rate.
What do you think would happen in the absence of satellite?
Without satellites, we wouldn’t have much choice in our television programs either, because there would be no more direct-to-home broadcasting, and cable operators would no longer have easy access to such a wide variety of channels.
Why do satellites go into orbit above the Earth?
Gravity–combined with the satellite’s momentum from its launch into space–cause the satellite go into orbit above Earth, instead of falling back down to the ground. Why Don’t Satellites Fall Out of the Sky?
When did space debris begin to accumulate in Earth orbit?
Space debris began to accumulate in Earth orbit immediately with the first launch of an artificial satellite Sputnik 1 into orbit in October 1957. But even before that, beside natural ejecta from Earth, humans might have produced ejecta that became space debris, as in the August 1957 Pascal B test.
What happens to old satellites?
The Short Answer: Two things can happen to old satellites: For the closer satellites, engineers will use its last bit of fuel to slow it down so it will fall out of orbit and burn up in the atmosphere. Further satellites are instead sent even farther away from Earth. Like every other machine, satellites do not last forever.
How can we prevent a satellite from crashing into Earth?
The second choice is to send the satellite even farther away from Earth. It can take a lot of fuel for a satellite to slow down enough to fall back into the atmosphere. That is especially true if a satellite is in a very high orbit.