[Free Registration/Login Required] Learn about orbits and how an object can stay in orbit under the influence of gravity. By adjusting launch velocities users will understand how to successfully put a virtual satellite into orbit without...

Explore the mythology, structure, observational history, gravitational force, and orbit of Earth's Moon.

In 1955, the US and the USSR each announced plans to launch a satellite into orbit. Thus began the race to the moon. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, the American space program and its new classes of astronauts achieved breakthroughs in...

Discover how satellites that orbit the Earth can save lives. Then use images obtained by satellites to construct a three-dimensional paper model of the Earth.

The necessity of gravitation to a circular orbit is discussed and equations for the orbital speed are derived from the law of universal gravitation. Binary systems in which two objects orbit about a center of mass are explained and...

This task models a satellite orbiting the Earth in communication with two control stations located miles apart on Earth's surface. Students determine distances between various locations and, given a rate of travel, they determine the...

[Free Registration/Login Required] Learn about geosynchronous orbits and their use in satellite communication.

How do astronomers collect stardust? They design and build satellites that are launched into space to collect particles on specially designed panels. Satellites can be sent to orbit around an object of interest: a planet, moon, or comet....

This site contains a lesson on the ellipse. The lesson has students draw an ellipse with pencil and string, and discussions on orbits and theoretical orbiting situations.

This is the homepage of all of the archived information about and from the Galileo Mission. Included is data from the flybys of Venus, Earth, Moon, and Asteroids Gaspra and Ida, as well as the current data from Jupiter and its moons. See...

The Canadian Space Agency presents Canada?s partnership in the International Space Station that is orbiting the globe. Canada's contribution is explained and facts about the mission are explained with graphs and pictures. This site...

This corporation launches rockets for businesses interested in a cost effective, reliable solution for sending satellites into orbit. Information, images, and detailed specifications can all be found here.

This study guide on gravitation covers some key vocabulary, Kepler's Laws of Planetary Motion, and orbiting bodies or satellites. Includes important equations. It is available for download with free registration.

Provides information about the five layers of Earth's atmosphere. Also discusses the satellites that orbit the Earth in the atmosphere.

This site from NASA states Kepler's second law of planetary motion and depicts its meaning with an informative diagram. Relates the law to conservation of energy principles and discusses the eccentricity of a satellite's (or a planet's)...

This site from NASA states Kepler's third law of motion and extends it to develop an equation for the velocity of an orbiting planet.

This site from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration provides fun information on the subject. "people can do their jobs even better if they have very accurate images of the ground. Oddly enough, the best way to see lots of...

Demonstrate how, with the use of orbital mechanics, a space mission to Mars can be planned. Using no more than algebra, Kepler's laws and the formula for the energy of an object in a Kepler orbit, the exercise derives the time for an...

Read about the birth of Earth's moon, its composition, orbit, visible phases, and other interesting facts. Link to a virtual moon phase interactive which shows the current lunar phase and the phase on any date in the past or future.

The three laws of planetary motion as described by Kepler are stated and elaborated upon. Useful graphics and an easy-to-understand language are used to explain the nature of planetary motion. Both conceptual and mathematical. Includes a...

3-D Data from ICESat: Orbiting the Earth at nearly 17,000 miles per hour, NASA's Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite (ICESat) is collecting spectacular new three-dimensional measurements of the Earth's surface and atmosphere.

For the first time, NASA scientists have generated a full image of the sun, front and back, using twin orbiting satellites. The new view of Earth's star will allow for the study of solar weather events like coronal mass ejections that...

Most people think of every full moon as appearing the same, but careful observation allows us to see that sometimes the Moon appears larger than at others. This is caused by the elliptical orbit of our natural satellite.

The Sun is the ultimate source of the energy that powers weather systems on Earth. Geomagnetic storms are sun-powered storms in the upper atmosphere, arising from energized particles that are periodically ejected by the Sun. Among other...