On Thu, 24 Jun 2004 05:28:59 GMT, Ron Wanttaja
wrote:

Anyway, you do have it backwards...orbital velocity decreases with circular
orbit altitude. ~25,200 FPS at 200 nm, ~10,100 FPS at geosynchronous
altitude (~19320 NM).

You're right about the potential energy, though. Dropping from
geosynchronous altitude to ground level, you'll hit the atmosphere at over
23,000 miles per hour. And if you're an old-timer like BOb, you'll have
the turn-signal flashing the entire way....

Thanks. I've had an aversion to orbits ever since an undergraduate
dynamics final exam question: "There is an object over the pole. It's
polar coordinates and velocity are _______. Should we launch a
counterstrike?" A question from a world which is now mostly gone.
RWR, RIP.

An example of the velocity-altitude plot I mentioned is at:
http://www.ase.uc.edu/~munday/pics/trajectories.ppt

You can see Mach 3 is a long way from the STS (Shuttle) LEO return.

I assume AOTV is that winged orbit transfer trick you refered to, Ron.

--
David Munday -
Webpage: http://www.ase.uc.edu/~munday
"Adopt, Adapt, and Improve" -- Motto of the Round Table