Measuring Orbit Inclinations
An orbiting vehicle follows the same path around a planet when the only force acting on the vehicle is gravity (no rockets are firing). This path can be thought of as a track on a flat plane which passes through the center of the earth. Here in this quicktime movie, the observer's position is directly above the point where the apparent orbital path crosses the equator. You can use the slider to step through the movie.
The position of the orbit can be described as INCLINATION. This is the angle the orbital plane (red segment) makes with the equator (black segment). Use the picture below to determine the inclination of this given orbit by moving the red points on the yellow segments to adjust the measured angle along the equator and orbital plane.
| Inclination 1 | Inclination 2 | Inclination 3 | Science Simulations | Mission Control |
Copyright 1999 John C. Park for the Science Junction
Still images of Earth ©1999 The Living Earth, Inc.