#KERBAL SPACE PROGRAM ESCAPE TRAJECTORY GENERATOR#

An eccentricity of zero indicates a circle. Eccentricity is the distance between the foci divided by the length of the major axis and is a number between zero and one. The semi-major axis is one-half of the major axis and represents a satellite's mean distance from its primary. The longest and shortest lines that can be drawn through the center of an ellipse are called the major axis and minor axis, respectively. An ellipse is defined to be a curve with the following property: for each point on an ellipse, the sum of its distances from two fixed points, called foci, is constant (see Figure 4.2). They areДЄn orbiting satellite follows an oval shaped path known as an ellipse with the body being orbited, called the primary, located at one of two points called foci. To mathematically describe an orbit one must define six quantities, called orbital elements. This page deals mostly with elliptical orbits, though we conclude with an examination of the hyperbolic orbit. Satellite orbits can be any of the four conic sections. The table below shows the relationships between eccentricity, semi-major axis, and energy and the type of conic section. The type of conic section is also related to the semi-major axis and the energy. We can define all conic sections in terms of the eccentricity. In the latter case the plane will intersect both halves of the cone, producing two separate curves.

#KERBAL SPACE PROGRAM ESCAPE TRAJECTORY GENERATOR#

Finally, if the intersection is an unbounded curve and the plane is not parallel to a generator line of the cone, the figure is a hyperbola.

If the plane is parallel to a generator line of the cone, the conic is called a parabola. The circle is a special case of the ellipse in which the plane is perpendicular to the axis of the cone. The circle and the ellipse arise when the intersection of cone and plane is a bounded curve. As shown in Figure 4.1, the angular orientation of the plane relative to the cone determines whether the conic section is a circle, ellipse, parabola, or hyperbola. The engineering applications of orbital mechanics include ascent trajectories, reentry and landing, rendezvous computations, and lunar and interplanetary trajectories.ДЄ conic section, or just conic, is a curve formed by passing a plane through a right circular cone. The root of orbital mechanics can be traced back to the 17th century when mathematician Isaac Newton (1642-1727) put forward his laws of motion and formulated his law of universal gravitation. Orbital mechanics is a modern offshoot of celestial mechanics which is the study of the motions of natural celestial bodies such as the moon and planets.

Orbital mechanics, also called flight mechanics, is the study of the motions of artificial satellites and space vehicles moving under the influence of forces such as gravity, atmospheric drag, thrust, etc.

Newton's Laws of Motion and Universal Gravitation.

Kerbal space program escape trajectory