The Only Video Needed to Understand Orbital Mechanics
267,706
Published 2022-10-26
Do you find orbital mechanics too confusing to understand? Well, you wont after this video!
In this Animation we're in space! We are going to look at why when navigating in an orbit, to speed up, you need to slow down your spacecraft! But before we answer that question, we will first review what an orbit is in the first place and what mechanical energy is! So grab a coffee and I really hope you enjoy and learn from my latest work! Thanks for passing by and please consider subscribing for more!!
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Time Stamps:
Intro - 00:00
What is an Orbit 00:31
What is Mechanical Energy 1:13
Different Burns and Their Effects on orbits 2:48
Trying to Navigate in an Orbit 5:30
Disclaimer Im well aware that the ISS travels around the earth from west to east, I've animated this in the opposite direction as I felt like the concepts are easier to grasp with a top down clockwise motion of orbits.
Note: The physics and their respective principles throughout this animation are in no way faultless. Theories, speeds, altitudes have been simplified for comprehensibility.
All Comments (21)
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Love this, KSP really made me understand orbital mechanics
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I've wondered about this for 20+ years. Great explanation. You know, this was most of Buzz Aldrin's Ph.D thesis that he never revised.
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After a 10 month hiatus to get married, buy real estate and create this animation, I am back! At the time of my last post, there were just over 13,000 subscribers, and now over 40,000! 100,000 subscribers...were coming for you! I'm so grateful to everyone who has watched my videos and patiently waited for the next one! I really hope you all enjoy this one! Cheers!
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Great Video and explanation. So to summarize in a nutshell, and to quote Larry Niven, “Forward is out, out is back, back is in, and in is forward.”
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Cool video, great animations! I learned orbital mechanics playing Kerbal Space Program, and I love it so much I'm in college now to become a physicist and hopefully work somewhere like SpaceX. Love that you used the Dragon capsule as your ship!
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Very well done! Have you considered a similar explanation for planetary slingshots? I think a lot of sci-fi writers and even news outlets get it wrong.
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Nice KSP tutorial
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That was pretty EASY to understand...and it IS rocket science. I'm impressed !!!!
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Kerbal space program players: *I AM 9 PARELLEL UNIVERSES AHEAD OF YOU*
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One suggestion is that towards the end of the video when describing the ISS rendezvous, to start the retrograde burn from the same initial circular orbit starting condition, instead of trying to correct the previous prograde burn. That way, it will be more obvious what the two difference are and how to intercept the ISS.
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At least for orbital mechanics, I think Douglas Adams was right - the trick to flying is throwing yourself at the ground and missing. :D
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You want to understand orbital mechanics ? Just buy kerbal space program and start playing. At the end you will be a master
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The only thing I would change is to show the planet inside the orbital paths rotating about its axis, showing how the suborbital position -- the Earth coordinate -- moves with respect to the orbiting body. Depending on the orbiter's inclination, the North (or South) Pole would be in the center of the spherical planet when the craft is orbiting above the Equator, but would be offset from such a vertical position when the craft is orbiting in an inclined plane relative to the Earth's equatorial plane, with an Ascending Node and a Descending Node associated with this inclined orbital path. Also, depending on the period of the orbit, there would be certain times when the craft would appear above the same point on the Earth below, say, if it orbits 16 times per sidereal day, once every 89 minutes 45.25 seconds. If a spacecraft orbiting above the Equator were to be above 0 deg N, 75 deg W at one point, then after 16 such orbits it would again be above that spot, one sidereal day later. Animating the spinning Earth -- and including a terminator, with a Day side and a Night side -- and having a red wavy line representing the Ground Track as the planet wobbles like a top, now THAT would be cool to see. Maybe a later video could depict these things . . . ? 😎
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Thanks! Your explanation is excellent, elegant and accurate! I tend to get technical when I explain it to non-scientific types, but Buzz (he actually changed his name) used to be called "Dr. Rendezvous" because he could figure orbital mechanics in his head, and he is one of my heroes!
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really helpful if you are struggling to rendezvous while in orbit on KSP, thank you!
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OMG! Just watched two of your videos. These are totally awesome - such a great channel!
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Absolutely amazing VIDEO with beautiful visuals! LOVE IT
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Wow, this video is amazing! Iam in my first year studying physics where we already talked a bit about orbital mechanics but this video is an absolutely gem to get a better understanding of what is really happening… Thx for the effort, you got my sub!
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You explained orbital mechanics in 10 minutes that my physics teacher can't in 2 and a half hours.
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Your channel is gold mine for a simpleton like me. Good job and keep it up.
