ExplainerTools

Short · Space

Why don't satellites fall down?

Satellites are falling right now. Fire Newton's cannonball faster and faster, and see why at about 8 km/s the curved Earth drops away as fast as the ball falls.

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Opens Newton's Cannon. Change the same thing yourself.

Narrated · 33 seconds · captions includedDownload the film

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Transcript

Why don't satellites fall down? They do. They're falling right now. Fire a cannonball sideways, and it curves to the ground. Now push the speed. Faster shots land farther away. At about eight kilometers a second, the ball still falls five meters each second. But the curved Earth drops away five meters too. It never lands. That's an orbit. The Space Station falls around Earth about fifteen and a half times a day. Try it yourself at Explainer Tools dot com.