This is quite challenging. Click on the "moon", drag the mouse, and release. Try to see how long your satellite stays in orbit. (Launching it into the vast recesses of space doesn't count. )
Hi Jason, hey, that's great fun! I got one to orbit the earth for about 20 moon orbits (I guess you'd actually call them months). I tried several others but I lost them in space or they "crashed & burned". You need to keep them low or the moon deflects them of course.
In fact, my 20 orbit one was still going when I exited to come back here - the real trick though would be to get one to orbit the moon, that's almost impossible - for me anyway.
#8. "RE: Can you launch a satellite?" In response to jasonlevine (Reply # 0) Tue Oct-08-02 08:16 PM
orbits and no longer counting! Some satellites are fairly tight around earth and vary from near circular to eliptical. Don't know how many lunar orbits have taken place.
The moon's distance from Earth is not to scale but it's still fun. I launched several that got caught by the moon and became part of the moonscape or went somewhere else entirely.
EDIT: I've got seven or eight orbiting, one in a deep parabola that goes well outside the moon's orbit. That circular orbit is elusive. My satellites are all over space! No NASA job for me yet!
#9. "RE: Can you launch a satellite?" In response to Allyn (Reply # 8)
Here's an interesting quirk I found by accident. Send a cluster of moons going counterclockwise, then send a cluster going clockwise and come back in 15 minutes. Usually all of the ones going in the same direction as the moon will have crashed or left orbit, and all of the ones remaining will be going against the rotation path of the moon.
#10. "RE: Can you launch a satellite?" In response to jasonlevine (Reply # 0) Tue Oct-08-02 08:49 PM
I've got one doing really well so far, it's been going on for quite some time now 20 minutes or so, and I have others that are circling, but they go off the screen, so I don't really count them. This is so fun, but WHY??? I was making hundreds of them at a time before, but they get weeded out pretty fast. I found that you can sling them with your cursor too! Man they really go! I wish they would do one of an entire solar system where you could put planets on an orbit and then add comets and meteors to the mix. Something of a SIM solar system so to speak. It would be pretty cool! (Okay the nerd in me just finally surfaced!):P
Hey, this is cool, put your cursor in a corner, and wait until the moon is getting close, then click and produce as many as you can and then stop just as the moon passes by and you have a whole string of them moving about. Heh, this is fun! Thx for the toy Jason!