There are 2 kinds of manmade satellites in the heavens above: One kind of satellite ORBITS the earth once or twice a day, and the other kind is called a communications satellite and it is PARKED in a STATIONARY position 22,300 miles (35,900 km) above the equator of the STATIONARY earth. A type of the orbiting satellite includes the space shuttle and the international space station which keep a low earth orbit (LEO) to avoid the deadly Van Allen radiation belts. The most prominent satellites in medium earth orbit (MEO) are the satellites which comprise the GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEM or GPS as it is called. The Global Positioning System The global positioning system was developed by the U.S. military and then opened to civilian use. It is used today to track planes, ships, trains, cars or literally anything that moves. Anyone can buy a receiver and track their exact location by using a GPS receiver.
These satellites are traveling around the earth at speeds of about 7,000 mph (11,200 kph). GPS satellites are powered by solar energy. They have backup batteries onboard to keep them running in the event of a solar eclipse, when there's no solar power. Small rocket boosters on each satellite keep them flying in the correct path. The satellites have a lifetime of about 10 years until all their fuel runs out. Geostationary Satellites Geostationary or communications satellites are PARKED in space 22,300 miles (35,900 km) above the equator of the STATIONARY earth. Geostationary satellites are used for weather forecasting, satellite TV, satellite radio and most other types of global communications.
At exactly 22,300 miles above the equator, the force of gravity is cancelled by the centrifugal force of the rotating universe. This is the ideal spot to park a stationary satellite.
Sun outages affect a geostationary satellite Geostationary satellites are fantastic means of communication except for one little problem called SUN OUTAGES. These sun outages happen during March and September when the sun passes the equator. Here is a quote from the book Satellite Technology:
This is obviously very embarrassing to the heliocentric people because the sun is not supposed to move. The sun does move however, and twice a year it is over the equator.
The Jesuits forgot to change the dictionary!! Obviously the Jesuits forgot to change the definition of the word EQUINOX in the English dictionary because it still gives the true scientific definition of the word with the sun MOVING across the equator 2 times each year:
PanAmSat's Description of sun outages!! Description The
duration of the sun outage depends on several things such as: the
beam width or field of view of the receiving ground antenna, the apparent
radius of the sun as seen from the Earth (about 0.25°), the RF
energy given off by the sun, the transmitter power of the satellite,
the gain and S/N performance of the ground station receive equipment,
along with other factors. All this can affect whether a ground station
will experience a complete loss of signal or only a tolerable degradation
in signal quality. The exact point at which sun outage begins and
ends is difficult to determine since it is a gradual transition. The
gain of an antenna falls off sharply outside the 3dB beam width, but
it does not immediately go to zero. Therefore, if the sun is just
outside the antenna's beam width, it can still contribute noise and
degrade system performance. This makes it difficult to define exactly
what conditions constitute a sun outage. To aid with sun outage predictions, a parameter called outage angle is defined for the ground station. Outage angle is defined as the maximum separation angle (measured from the ground station antenna) between the satellite and the sun's center, that results in a sun outage. In other words, if the separation between the satellite and sun is less than the specified outage angle, then the station is said to be experiencing a sun outage. Otherwise, the station is not experiencing a sun outage (see diagram). Stationary satellites need very small motors to keep them in their assigned slot!! According to the heliocentric theory, the earth is moving at about 1,000 mph at the equator. If the geostationary satellites were moving, they would have to move at a speed of about 7,000 mph to maintain a stationary orbit above a fixed point on the earth. That is about the same speed as the GPS satellites that orbit the earth twice a day. However, GPS satellites are equipped with a rocket engine to maintain their orbit.
Vital link References Inglis Andrew & Luther. Arch C. Satellite Technology, An Introduction. Focal Press. Boston, 1997. Pattan, Bruno. Satellite Systems: Principles and Technologies. Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, 1993. Copyright © 2007 by Niall Kilkenny |