Satellite & Earth

NASA says most satellites are launched into space by rockets. A satellite orbits the earth when its speed is equal to the gravitational pull of the earth. Without this balance, the satellite will either fly in a straight line into space or fall back to Earth. Satellites orbit the Earth at different altitudes, at different speeds and along different paths. The two most common types of orbits are GEOSTATIONARY and POLAR. Geostationary satellites move from west to east over the equator. It moves in the same direction and at the same rate as the direction the earth rotates. From the earth, geostationary satellites look like they are standing still because they are always above the same location. Polar orbit, the satellite orbits at the poles that move in a north-south direction. In other words, it goes from the north pole to the south pole. As the earth rotates beneath them, these satellites can scan the entire surface of the earth. NASA says that a satellite's orbit is a path or traje...