I'm surprised that a more detailed discussion of satellites, or links to youtube professors, haven't come up sooner. Forget the low orbiting space station. Forget natural satellites like the moon. Man-made satellites are possible thanks to, and their mission success re-confirms, Newtons laws and formulas, and a model of the earth as a massive "near" sphere, illuminated by a sun predicted to be very far away. I'd like to see a flat earth explanation take into account the orbits of geo-synchronous satellites and polar orbiting satellites without bending the known laws of physics even further.GEO:As an aside, I can't believe that in order to buy into flat-earth, we have to dismiss gravity as a myth. This should be the only red flag necessary. I can't decide if I'm more surprised that someone past the 20th century proposed it, or that others believed it based on the "evidence" and "arguments" presented. While the videos and websites said the words, none of the "youtube" videos, or websites came up with physical real world scenarios, and an associated analytical analysis, that showed a contradiction of any of Newton's formulas. The only real scientific contradictions to date to Newton's laws are 1) Einstein's theory of relativity, and this only becomes significant when things get really fast, or near large massive objects, or 2) quantum physics, when things get really small.But regardless whether it's due to gravity or electricity, Newton's formulas predicting measurable forces and accelerations have proven quite accurate for real world observations for centuries.Besides Newton's formulas being confirmed and re-confirmed in everyday mundane physical observations for several centuries, geo-synchronous satellites have been put into orbit using a geodetic world model (a pear shaped earth), and using Newton's laws of gravity, and the associated formulas based on Newton's gravitational model.Using the same triangulation technique that flat-earth offered to show that the sun is around 3000 miles from the earth, geo-synchronous satellites are placed in a circular orbit about 22000 miles from the equator. Geo-synchronous satellites also have solar panels which need to be pointed at the sun, while it's payload antennas are pointed at the earth. Based on the known positions of the antennas and solar panels, every geo satellite operator can confirm to you that, from the vantage point of these satellites, the sun is nowhere near the earth, and very often not in the same direction. And every satellite TV consumer, with a fixed antenna for reception, able to watch "Big Bang Theory", is confirmation that the geodetical world model and Newton's gravitational model and laws work with remarkable accuracy.In fact, every spring, and every fall, for about six weeks, the earth gets directly in between the sun, and a geo satellite, for a limited time each day, casting a shadow on the solar panels. I cannot picture how that is even possible, with a sun 3000 miles from a flat earth, and a satellite that is 22000 miles from the equator (as measured by the same triangulation technique). How is it possible that man-made geo satellites, at a height of 22000 miles, pass into earth's shadow daily, for six weeks, using a flat earth model.Furthermore, we can measure the reception patterns of satellite transmissions, and we use, gasp, a geodetic world model to predict how the signal will fall off at the edge of it's beam.We can also see directly that a geo satellite will have no line of sight to half of the earth's surface. This is easily explained when the earth is seen as a globe, and satellite cannot illuminate the opposite side.I await the flat-earth explanation that accomodates how geo-synchronous satellites have had so much success these past few decades.Polar orbiting satellites:Forget airplanes. Many polar satellites have been launched that measure the earth's weather, as well as spy satellites. Not only by NASA, but by Germany, China, and Japan, and India. The advantage of polar orbits is complete, or near complete coverage of the planet. We used similar orbits to map Venus (e.g. Magellan) which, I guess for this discussion, is undisputedly spherical.How do their orbits look on a flat-earth map? These satellites speed down to the "south pole" and back up the other side many times per day. On the flat earth map frequently presented here, that looks odd that it races towards the Antarctic ice-wall, then races around to nearly 180 deg, to come back up the other side toward the north pole. I look forward to the flat-earth accomodation that explains polar orbits, and the physics explaining the apparent acceleration and deceleration required to trace the observed orbital path of the satellites.After all, this isn't rocket science. Oh, actually it is.
Mir wrote:
Can we talk about satellites and the International Space Station? What do they do up there? Do the swirl aimlessly, go in a big circle like the moon and sun or does NASA have controllers that make them appear to orbit across the sky?
What keeps them up there?