Recent content by LydiaJ

I have a Physics undergraduate degree (MS in engineering, but I got that after working for a few years), and I now lead a team of firmware and software developers, so I understand what you are going through. Every manager is different, so it's tough to give general advice, bu here are three...

Thanks for the answers. I have done some more research, and it looks like the definitions of these things maybe aren't as firm as I thought. Or at least some people use the terms loosely. I read Ratman's link, and they call them exocomets, as he pointed out. I don't know if the term is...

I understand the difference between comets, asteroids, and meteoroids. I was just reading about asteroids recently, and it occurred to me that when I read anything about these three types of objects the implicit (and sometime explicit) assumption is that they only apply to things that orbit the...

Unfortunately, it looks like the formulas got screwy right at the part I couldn't figure out, which is how to find the eccentricity. It looks like you are trying to do A = (rv*cos(t))/2 but that doesn't seem to work out right. Edit: Actually, that seems to be exactly what you meant. My...

I'm a little stuck. Here is what I have so far: I calculated the new velocity (Vf) from the impulse velocity (Vj) of 2.5 m/s using the following formula: Vf = √(Vi2+Vj2) Then I used that to get the new semi-major axis using the following: a= (μ*r)/(2μ-Vf2*r) I assumed the ISS orbit is...

The ISS is 109 meters wide, so at least our poor astronaut wouldn't miss it on the way back down (yay!). Thanks, for the numbers, this is just the sort of thing I was looking for. Now I want to see if I can solve for this myself, and see what different scenarios look like. I'm more than a...

I think things are simpler than they really are. From Kepler's law the orbital period is: T=2π√(a3/μ) Since the astronaut's new orbit (after they took the leap) would be elliptical (assuming the ISS has a circular orbit), it would take the astronaut longer to get around the Earth. So let's...

Not to turn this into an economics forum, but if you haven't yet discovered Steve Keen, you should look him up. He is an Australian economist who's whole career is basically discussing these questions... In an often really snarky way. It's good you want to do research with a Physics degree...

I understand that if there is a body in a circular orbit around the Earth (or any other thing), and there is an impulse directed radially out away from the Earth against the orbiting body, the body will end up in an elliptical orbit, which will pass through the original circular orbit. This got...

I seem to be a little late to this thread, but since I was an Economics major who switched to Physics (and have since had a rewarding career, though not in Physics), maybe I can offer something... I received my undergraduate degree almost 15 years ago. I liked Physics more than the other...

Thanks for the answer. It's kind of crazy that no one thought to study this issue more closely before they went and actually tried to do it in real life. I guess that's easy to say in hindsight though.

Oh, I see, so they aren't exactly just floating there waiting for the ISS to catch up. They are actually keeping themselves lined up by using their own power. Thanks for a help.

I was watching the following video, and I have a question about something they said that seemed kind of vague (I know I could have asked in the video comments section, but this forum tends to supply much better answers, so I hope it's OK that I am asking about a YouTube video here): If you...

Thanks, Andrewkirk. I forgot about the gas. That's the part I missed. Now it makes sense. The falling to Earth transferring angular moment was something I hadn't even thought of, but that makes sense too, although it is tough to visualize.

I was reading about the ISS earlier, and this question came into my mind, and I can't seem to decided how this actually works. Here's the set-up: Say I have two masses stuck together (m1 and m2) to form a mass M in orbit around some planet (like the ISS, and some large space capsule that is...