Orbits

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Welcome

In this series of lessons we will be examining the orbits of planets and other bodies that move about in space such as satellites, space shuttles and space stations, and various interplanetary space vehicles. More specifically our interest is in the paths these bodies follow and the various properties of these paths.

The materials you will find here support the discussions you will be holding in class and should be used as directed by your teacher.

Unit 1 - Setting the scene

Setting the scene for the lesson series on Orbits. We consider the Mars landing of 4 July 1997 and examine the magnitude of the task of the Navigation Team and consider related problems.

Unit 2 - Ellipses

In this unit we look at two different definitions of ellipses, examine the role of the variables on the shape of ellipses and learn some vocabulary related to ellipses.

Unit 3 - Cartesian equations for ellipses

In this unit we will use graphing calculators (or other graphing programs) to draw the orbits of certain space craft and also of some planets.

Unit 4 - Polar representations for ellipses

In this unit we consider polar and parametric representations as alternatives to the Cartesian representation of unit 3 which has certain limitations when used in the context of space flight.

Unit 5 - Getting from one orbit to another

Finally, having done all that preliminary work, we can now discuss one of the big issues in the original problem - how to get from one orbit to another.

Unit 6 - Some extensions

By the nature of our work we have had to simplify the orbital parameters quite dramatically so far, in this unit we try to deal with some of the simplifications we have assumed so far.