These maneuvers are not done continuously around the orbit. They are typically done in burns done at apogee and perigee if all they are doing is raising/lowering the orbit and minimizing any changes to the orbital plane.
Think of it like this. When I turn the propulsion on, I do not change my CURRENT instantaneous position while I am burning. What I change is my velocity. So if I burn the motor at apogee and the motor is firing along my velocity vector, then I am speeding myself up. THIS RAISES PERIGEE because I will have the same height but my speed will cause the position on the OTHER SIDE of the orbit to be raised. Similarly, I slow down at apogee, perigee is lowered. If I speed up at perigee, apogee is raised, ........ Did this help? Bob On Fri, Jan 13, 2012 at 10:28 AM, Fabio Azzarello <iw8...@amsat.org> wrote: > Hello everybody, > > ISS heights plots are available at the following link: > > http://www.heavens-above.com/OrbitHeight.aspx?satid=25544&startMJD=55610&lat=43&lng=11 > > I've noticed that Apogee and Perigee heights have different behaviour > during reboosts (look at mid September for example), > could anybody help me to understand why? > > Thanks in advance, > 73s > Fabio > iw8qku/5 > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. > Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! > Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb > -- Bob McGwier Facebook: N4HYBob ARS: N4HY _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
