How was Skylab's orbit inclination chosen?
$begingroup$
As referenced in this question, there were a number of early spaceflight missions at higher inclination than may be expected (given limited payload capability, higher inclination further limits payload to orbit).
Skylab was launched from KSC (approx. 28.5 degrees N latitude); the maximum payload to orbit should be achieved with an inclination almost exactly equal to the latitude. So how/why did "they" choose to put Skylab into a much higher inclination orbit?
crewed-spaceflight low-earth-orbit skylab
asked 10 hours ago
costromcostrom
4011317
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
As referenced in this question, there were a number of early spaceflight missions at higher inclination than may be expected (given limited payload capability, higher inclination further limits payload to orbit).
Skylab was launched from KSC (approx. 28.5 degrees N latitude); the maximum payload to orbit should be achieved with an inclination almost exactly equal to the latitude. So how/why did "they" choose to put Skylab into a much higher inclination orbit?
crewed-spaceflight low-earth-orbit skylab
asked 10 hours ago
costromcostrom
4011317
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
As referenced in this question, there were a number of early spaceflight missions at higher inclination than may be expected (given limited payload capability, higher inclination further limits payload to orbit).
Skylab was launched from KSC (approx. 28.5 degrees N latitude); the maximum payload to orbit should be achieved with an inclination almost exactly equal to the latitude. So how/why did "they" choose to put Skylab into a much higher inclination orbit?
crewed-spaceflight low-earth-orbit skylab
asked 10 hours ago
costromcostrom
4011317
$endgroup$
As referenced in this question, there were a number of early spaceflight missions at higher inclination than may be expected (given limited payload capability, higher inclination further limits payload to orbit).
Skylab was launched from KSC (approx. 28.5 degrees N latitude); the maximum payload to orbit should be achieved with an inclination almost exactly equal to the latitude. So how/why did "they" choose to put Skylab into a much higher inclination orbit?
crewed-spaceflight low-earth-orbit skylab
crewed-spaceflight low-earth-orbit skylab
asked 10 hours ago
costromcostrom
4011317
asked 10 hours ago
costromcostrom
4011317
asked 10 hours ago
costromcostrom
4011317
asked 10 hours ago
costromcostrom
4011317
asked 10 hours ago
costromcostrom
4011317
4011317
add a comment |
add a comment |
1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
$begingroup$
Skylab's science experiments included Earth surface observations, and the higher inclination orbit allowed more surface to be viewed. Per Living and Working In Space: The NASA History of Skylab:
The requirements of the earth-resource experiments caused major changes to mission plans. Primary among these was an increase in orbital inclination to 50º. Skylab would now go as far north as Vancouver, Winnipeg, Bastogne, Frankfurt am Main, Kharkov, Mongolia, and Sakhalin Island north of Japan. To the south, Skylab would pass over all of Australia and Africa and most of South America, except Tierra del Fuego. Three fourths of the earth's surface would lie under Skylab's path, the area where 90% of its population lives and 80% of its food is produced.
This diagram from the book dramatically illustrates the coverage at 50º inclination. For comparison, I've added a blue shaded area illustrating the coverage obtained by an approximately 28º inclination max-payload-from-Cape orbit; it's particularly striking that almost none of the US is covered at that inclination.
answered 9 hours ago
Russell BorogoveRussell Borogove
88.9k3298383
$endgroup$
2
$begingroup$
Nice edit! Really shows the difference.
$endgroup$
– Organic Marble
9 hours ago
add a comment |
Your Answer
StackExchange.ifUsing("editor", function () {
return StackExchange.using("mathjaxEditing", function () {
StackExchange.MarkdownEditor.creationCallbacks.add(function (editor, postfix) {
StackExchange.mathjaxEditing.prepareWmdForMathJax(editor, postfix, [["$", "$"], ["\\(","\\)"]]);
});
});
}, "mathjax-editing");
StackExchange.ready(function() {
var channelOptions = {
tags: "".split(" "),
id: "508"
};
initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);
StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function() {
// Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled) {
StackExchange.using("snippets", function() {
createEditor();
});
}
else {
createEditor();
}
});
function createEditor() {
StackExchange.prepareEditor({
heartbeatType: 'answer',
autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
convertImagesToLinks: false,
noModals: true,
showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
reputationToPostImages: null,
bindNavPrevention: true,
postfix: "",
imageUploader: {
brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
allowUrls: true
},
noCode: true, onDemand: true,
discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
});
}
});
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
StackExchange.ready(
function () {
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fspace.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f35410%2fhow-was-skylabs-orbit-inclination-chosen%23new-answer', 'question_page');
}
);
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
$begingroup$
Skylab's science experiments included Earth surface observations, and the higher inclination orbit allowed more surface to be viewed. Per Living and Working In Space: The NASA History of Skylab:
The requirements of the earth-resource experiments caused major changes to mission plans. Primary among these was an increase in orbital inclination to 50º. Skylab would now go as far north as Vancouver, Winnipeg, Bastogne, Frankfurt am Main, Kharkov, Mongolia, and Sakhalin Island north of Japan. To the south, Skylab would pass over all of Australia and Africa and most of South America, except Tierra del Fuego. Three fourths of the earth's surface would lie under Skylab's path, the area where 90% of its population lives and 80% of its food is produced.
This diagram from the book dramatically illustrates the coverage at 50º inclination. For comparison, I've added a blue shaded area illustrating the coverage obtained by an approximately 28º inclination max-payload-from-Cape orbit; it's particularly striking that almost none of the US is covered at that inclination.
answered 9 hours ago
Russell BorogoveRussell Borogove
88.9k3298383
$endgroup$
2
$begingroup$
Nice edit! Really shows the difference.
$endgroup$
– Organic Marble
9 hours ago
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Skylab's science experiments included Earth surface observations, and the higher inclination orbit allowed more surface to be viewed. Per Living and Working In Space: The NASA History of Skylab:
The requirements of the earth-resource experiments caused major changes to mission plans. Primary among these was an increase in orbital inclination to 50º. Skylab would now go as far north as Vancouver, Winnipeg, Bastogne, Frankfurt am Main, Kharkov, Mongolia, and Sakhalin Island north of Japan. To the south, Skylab would pass over all of Australia and Africa and most of South America, except Tierra del Fuego. Three fourths of the earth's surface would lie under Skylab's path, the area where 90% of its population lives and 80% of its food is produced.
This diagram from the book dramatically illustrates the coverage at 50º inclination. For comparison, I've added a blue shaded area illustrating the coverage obtained by an approximately 28º inclination max-payload-from-Cape orbit; it's particularly striking that almost none of the US is covered at that inclination.
answered 9 hours ago
Russell BorogoveRussell Borogove
88.9k3298383
$endgroup$
2
$begingroup$
Nice edit! Really shows the difference.
$endgroup$
– Organic Marble
9 hours ago
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Skylab's science experiments included Earth surface observations, and the higher inclination orbit allowed more surface to be viewed. Per Living and Working In Space: The NASA History of Skylab:
The requirements of the earth-resource experiments caused major changes to mission plans. Primary among these was an increase in orbital inclination to 50º. Skylab would now go as far north as Vancouver, Winnipeg, Bastogne, Frankfurt am Main, Kharkov, Mongolia, and Sakhalin Island north of Japan. To the south, Skylab would pass over all of Australia and Africa and most of South America, except Tierra del Fuego. Three fourths of the earth's surface would lie under Skylab's path, the area where 90% of its population lives and 80% of its food is produced.
This diagram from the book dramatically illustrates the coverage at 50º inclination. For comparison, I've added a blue shaded area illustrating the coverage obtained by an approximately 28º inclination max-payload-from-Cape orbit; it's particularly striking that almost none of the US is covered at that inclination.
answered 9 hours ago
Russell BorogoveRussell Borogove
88.9k3298383
$endgroup$
Skylab's science experiments included Earth surface observations, and the higher inclination orbit allowed more surface to be viewed. Per Living and Working In Space: The NASA History of Skylab:
The requirements of the earth-resource experiments caused major changes to mission plans. Primary among these was an increase in orbital inclination to 50º. Skylab would now go as far north as Vancouver, Winnipeg, Bastogne, Frankfurt am Main, Kharkov, Mongolia, and Sakhalin Island north of Japan. To the south, Skylab would pass over all of Australia and Africa and most of South America, except Tierra del Fuego. Three fourths of the earth's surface would lie under Skylab's path, the area where 90% of its population lives and 80% of its food is produced.
This diagram from the book dramatically illustrates the coverage at 50º inclination. For comparison, I've added a blue shaded area illustrating the coverage obtained by an approximately 28º inclination max-payload-from-Cape orbit; it's particularly striking that almost none of the US is covered at that inclination.
answered 9 hours ago
Russell BorogoveRussell Borogove
88.9k3298383
edited 9 hours ago
answered 9 hours ago
Russell BorogoveRussell Borogove
88.9k3298383
answered 9 hours ago
Russell BorogoveRussell Borogove
88.9k3298383
answered 9 hours ago
Russell BorogoveRussell Borogove
88.9k3298383
88.9k3298383
2
$begingroup$
Nice edit! Really shows the difference.
$endgroup$
– Organic Marble
9 hours ago
add a comment |
2
$begingroup$
Nice edit! Really shows the difference.
$endgroup$
– Organic Marble
9 hours ago
2
2
$begingroup$
Nice edit! Really shows the difference.
$endgroup$
– Organic Marble
9 hours ago
$begingroup$
Nice edit! Really shows the difference.
$endgroup$
– Organic Marble
9 hours ago
add a comment |
Thanks for contributing an answer to Space Exploration Stack Exchange!
- Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!
But avoid …
- Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.
- Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.
Use MathJax to format equations. MathJax reference.
To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
StackExchange.ready(
function () {
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fspace.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f35410%2fhow-was-skylabs-orbit-inclination-chosen%23new-answer', 'question_page');
}
);
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
