K
kiwigavin
Guest
OK, I've got the hang of orbital rendezvous (in theory anyway). Buzz Aldrin talks at length in "Men From Earth" about concentric orbits and the fun early Gemini missions had trying to eyeball a rendezvous. Now excuse me for a dumb newbie question but I can't find anything via Google about this: I want to know how we dock. The physics not the mechanics. Not computers, not radar not automation just plane (sic) direction of travel and the direction of the forces we apply to get there.<br /><br />So we've rv'ed and are now station keeping. Here's my questions:<br /><br />1. What is our orientation wrt direction of travel? Are we lined up so the "axis of approach" is the same as direction of travel or are we 90 degrees out with one vehicle closer to earth than the other?<br /><br />The latter seems more feasible. That way to dock you just speed up and wait for you orbital radius to increase by the necessary hundreds of feet. However, all the photos of the shuttle docked seem to show it along the direction of travel.<br /><br />2. Is there a distance between objects below which you can just point and go? I assume when the CSM pulled the LM free it just moved forward a few dozen feet, did a 180, then moved forward back the way it came. <i> Even grammar can't handle orbital mechanics it seems </i>. Is it the same when you get within a few feet of the ISS?<br /><br />If anyone can point me at something WID PIKTURES that explains it I'd be jolly grateful.