SUBSIM Radio Room Forums - View Single Post - Is Apollo 11's Lunar Module Still In Orbit Around The Moon 52 Years Later?

Platapus · 10-01-21, 05:11 PM

Well all earth satellites orbit the sun.

But the unstable orbit of J002E3 is quite interesting. We are still not 100% positive what it is, but the Saturn Booster idea seems reasonable.

Because it passes inside the orbit of our moon, its orbit processes to the point where its apogee is beyond the first Lagrange point so it then transitions to a heliocentric orbit.

It seems to follow a pattern of six highly elliptical earth orbits and one very high solar orbit and then back for six. Weird.

10-01-21, 05:11 PM	#6
Platapus Fleet Admiral Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 19,377 Downloads: 63 Uploads: 0	Well all earth satellites orbit the sun. But the unstable orbit of J002E3 is quite interesting. We are still not 100% positive what it is, but the Saturn Booster idea seems reasonable. Because it passes inside the orbit of our moon, its orbit processes to the point where its apogee is beyond the first Lagrange point so it then transitions to a heliocentric orbit. It seems to follow a pattern of six highly elliptical earth orbits and one very high solar orbit and then back for six. Weird. __________________ abusus non tollit usum - A right should NOT be withheld from people on the basis that some tend to abuse that right.