08 Feb '11 02:37>
I know if I am just in orbit, I get from London to Tokyo, call it 20,000 km, 12,000 miles more or less, like half way round the planet, I can get there in about 45 minutes plus whatever time it takes to de-orbit and such. But how fast can I get there if I can vector thrust upwards to force my craft into a tighter curve, say I can thrust upwards or whatever the proper vector is to be able to make a faster curve around the Earth.
If I can take 3 g's (about the max on a space shuttle launch) how much faster can I get half way round the planet? If you envision a rocket, the flame would be pointing away from the center of Earth or maybe some vector off from there but one that allows the fastest curve flight half way round the Earth.
You can see if you just pointed the rocket motor in back like you would to achieve faster velocity with the goal of escaping Earth's gravity, or running in reverse to slow you down to de-orbit, but turning the rocket motor to shoot straight up would force you downwards but you would need some vector to speed you up AND force you downwards.
If I can take 3 g's (about the max on a space shuttle launch) how much faster can I get half way round the planet? If you envision a rocket, the flame would be pointing away from the center of Earth or maybe some vector off from there but one that allows the fastest curve flight half way round the Earth.
You can see if you just pointed the rocket motor in back like you would to achieve faster velocity with the goal of escaping Earth's gravity, or running in reverse to slow you down to de-orbit, but turning the rocket motor to shoot straight up would force you downwards but you would need some vector to speed you up AND force you downwards.