[amsat-bb] Re: ARISSat deployment direction?

[Phil Karn]

On 8/8/11 6:09 AM, Alan P. Biddle wrote:
> Rich,
> 
> Orbital dynamics are not all that intuitive. 

That's absolutely right. Some historical trivia: even NASA tripped over
this in the early days. When the Gemini IV crew tried to rendezvous with
their spent booster, they kept missing. They were trying to fly the
capsule as if it were an airplane, or maybe a boat floating on the water
(only in 3D) but things just didn't work that way. Everything seemed to
work in reverse, like that old Star Trek episode with the giant space
amoeba.