# Satellites **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 1, 2003, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/satellites/185590 "2003-07-01T15:11:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Trigonal\_Planar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/0ea827/32.png) [@Trigonal\_Planar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trigonal_Planar)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2003, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/satellites/185590/21 "2003-07-02T01:30:24Z")
Well, I’ve got 4 going and its been 10 minutes. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2003, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/satellites/185590/22 "2003-07-02T01:34:03Z")
Damn. Bob the Satellite is dead after an hour and a half. ---
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2003, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/satellites/185590/23 "2003-07-02T01:50:10Z")
Well, I don’t know what’s become of the first long-lived one, but I’ve got another with about ten minutes in a fairly stable clockwise arbit between the Earth and the Moon. You can give them a heading and an initial velocity with a little push of the mouse at launch. ---
**Author:** ![Briny\_Deep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/briny_deep/32/17188_2.png) [@Briny\_Deep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Briny_Deep)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2003, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/satellites/185590/24 "2003-07-02T01:56:58Z")
No problem keeping them going around the earth, but I can’t get one around the moon for more than a turn or two. Anyone able to do that? ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2003, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/satellites/185590/25 "2003-07-02T02:14:43Z")
I had one orbiting the moon in a long-period eccentric orbit, but it eventually crashed, after about 10 orbits or so. ---
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2003, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/satellites/185590/26 "2003-07-02T02:19:08Z")
My clockwise low orbit guy’s got about 40 minutes on him now. Gah! I _must_ move on. ---
**Author:** ![Nightsong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nightsong/32/3083_2.png) [@Nightsong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nightsong)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2003, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/satellites/185590/27 "2003-07-02T02:39:05Z")
Wow! I got one to do a figure-8 around the Earth and Moon for awhile: it’d loop around the Earth, then get caught by the Moon and loop around it, then plummet towards the Earth, get dragged out by the Moon just in time to go around the Earth, then repeat. It eventually slammed into the Earth though. Good thing it isn’t a real planet, it’d look like a battered golf ball by now. * * * \<\< COFFEE.EXE Not found. Insert cup, and hit any key to contiune. \>\> ---
**Author:** ![Trigonal\_Planar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/0ea827/32.png) [@Trigonal\_Planar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trigonal_Planar)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2003, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/satellites/185590/28 "2003-07-02T02:39:09Z")
Well my 3 satellites lasted about an hour and a half. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2003, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/satellites/185590/29 "2003-07-02T02:47:45Z")
Still going strong at 4 hours, 38 minutes. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2003, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/satellites/185590/30 "2003-07-02T02:58:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Robot Arm \* > \*\*Still going strong at 4 hours, 38 minutes. \*\* You suck. ---
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2003, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/satellites/185590/31 "2003-07-02T03:02:23Z")
Hmm…, the sun doesn’t move. Is this real? ---
**Author:** ![Shotgunhaircut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@Shotgunhaircut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shotgunhaircut)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2003, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/satellites/185590/32 "2003-07-02T03:08:37Z")
I’ve had 7 going for 20 minutes ---
**Author:** ![Searching\_For\_Truth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4da419/32.png) [@Searching\_For\_Truth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Searching_For_Truth)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2003, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/satellites/185590/33 "2003-07-02T03:58:48Z")
I just shared this link with 5 people and now none of us can stop. I can’t bring myself to close the browser window. ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2003, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/satellites/185590/34 "2003-07-02T04:07:50Z")
Aw, screw this. I’m sending a few objects direct from Klendathu to Buenos Aries. Tripler My only dissapointment is that there’s no explosion. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2003, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/satellites/185590/35 "2003-07-02T04:15:19Z")
Hey FYI, I find [this NASA website](http://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/RealTime/JTrack/3D/JTrack3D.html) pretty cool too. Gives you a real-time update and everything. Tripler Have fun. ---
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2003, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/satellites/185590/36 "2003-07-02T04:26:20Z")
My near-earth dude is still going. ---
**Author:** ![Jenaroph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Jenaroph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenaroph)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2003, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/satellites/185590/37 "2003-07-02T04:36:05Z")
Had four going for over an hour, three clockwise and one counter. Do the satellites affect each other gravitationally? I had five going for several minutes, tried to add a sixth and immediately lost two. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2003, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/satellites/185590/38 "2003-07-02T04:46:58Z")
Thanks for the support there, Q.E.D. I was just getting ready to shut it down, (I have to reboot my machine to Linux) but wanted to check the baseball scores and a few other things on the web. When I looked again, it was gone. It crashed somewhere between 6 hours and 6 hours-20 minutes. ---
**Author:** ![Muad\_Dib](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/35a633/32.png) [@Muad\_Dib](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muad_Dib)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2003, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/satellites/185590/39 "2003-07-02T06:33:05Z")
I have about 12 or so going. It is hard to keep count. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2003, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/satellites/185590/40 "2003-07-02T12:36:35Z")
Well, Bob Mark II has been going since about midnight–about 8 hours now. It seems to be a nice, stable near-earth orbit with a period of about 1.90 seconds. (Yes, i know I suck, **Robot Arm** 😃 ) Yes, **Jenaroph** , the satellites do affect each other slightly. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/satellites/185590.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/satellites/185590.md?page=3)