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Old 08-14-2017, 06:47 PM   #6
Anthony
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Berkeley, CA
Default Re: THS Adventure: Orbital Decay

Quote:
Originally Posted by Owen Smith View Post
Oh and the orbital mechanics in Orbital Decay are terrible (it's been a while since I read it so I've forgotten the details).
From the preview (never read the adventure): the station is in 'High Earth Orbit', but there's an accident that pushes it into a 'decaying orbit'.

Um... yeah. Decaying orbits exist but they're always low orbits (because the way you get orbital decay is by brushing the outer atmosphere), and even a low orbit is probably quite a bit above the range where decay can happen; a 500 km orbit would likely require 100m/s delta-V to go into a decaying orbit, and an accident that can do that is probably going to cause the space station to break apart.

However, there are a variety of reasons you might want to deal with a derelict station even if it's not immediately headed for a crash.
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