Labs / Astronomy
Build an Orbit
Drag out from the probe hovering above the planet to aim its launch velocity, then let go and gravity does the rest. Set the speed and altitude, and watch the same inverse-square pull draw a tidy circle, a stretched ellipse, or a one-way escape hyperbola. The readouts name the conic from the orbit's energy and eccentricity.
e 0.00peri 0 kmapo 0 kmEllipse
What to try
- What exact speed turns the ellipse into a perfect circle — and does that speed change when you raise the altitude?
- Aim the arrow straight up instead of sideways. Where does the probe go, and why does it come right back?
- Nudge the speed higher and higher: at what point does the orbit stop closing on itself and the energy readout flip its sign?
- Can you set a periapsis height below zero? What happens to the probe when its lowest point dips beneath the surface?
- For a fixed speed, how does starting higher up change the shape and eccentricity of the orbit you get?