Re:What If the Moon Orbited at the Same Height as the ISS?
by ufmace on Monday May 19, 2014 @01:07PM
(#7768503)
As far as I remember, the ISS orbits low enough that it requires regular rocket boosts to maintain its orbit against drag from the last bits of the atmosphere. So if the moon orbited there, I'm guessing it would have fallen back to the Earth within a few hundred years or so.
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Re:What If the Moon Orbited at the Same Height as the ISS?
by Crito on Monday May 19, 2014 @01:21PM
(#7768585)
My guess is that tidal forces (speeding up Earth's rotation, but slowing down the moon (the opposite of what happens in this reality)) would dominate over atmospheric drag.
How much atmospheric drag affects a spacecraft in LEO is a complex problem, being a function of the spacecraft's mass, surface area, orientation, etc. However the moon is dense enough that it would probably be fairly content to barrel through the sparse atmosphere for quite some time.
Re:What If the Moon Orbited at the Same Height as the ISS?
by theandrewbailey on Monday May 19, 2014 @03:33PM
(#7769304)
Due to tidal forces, I suspect that the moon would start to steal some of Earth's atmosphere. I'm not sure if that would slow it down or not.
Re:What If the Moon Orbited at the Same Height as the ISS?
by jessriedel on Monday May 19, 2014 @03:08PM
(#7769175)
The volume to surface area of the moon is massively greater than the ISS, and only a tiny amount of the surface area is actually exposed to the atmosphere. If the Issue can last for months without a boost, I figure the effect of the moon on the moon would be neglible on much longer timescales.