fisher@dvinci.DEC (05/28/85)
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Regarding the question of throwing mass and meeting again in one orbit:
Remember that if you change velocity at a certain point in your orbit, that
changes the height of your orbit the most at the opposite side, and the least
at the point where you changed velocity. Example: If you fire a rocket at
perigee, it affects your apogee, but your perigee remains the same. That means
that yes, the astronaut would meet the ORBIT of the mass s/he threw in one
orbital period, but the mass would not necessarily be there at the same time.
It would probably be a LONG time before both the time and place were the same
for both the mass and the astronaut.
Burns
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