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You are the pilot of a space ship currently in an elliptical orbit around the earth as shown in the figure at the right. The point at A is at a distance of 3 earth radii from the earth's surface, and the point B is at a distance of 1 earth radius from the surface. You are at point A and want to change your orbit. What would happen to the shape of your orbit if you decided to speed up in the direction you are heading by firing your aft rockets briefly? What would happen to the shape of your orbit if you decided to slow down in the direction you are heading by firing your fore rockets briefly? If you want to put yourself into a circular orbit passing through the point A, how would you do it? (Be quantitative!)

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Page last modified October 15, 2002: GR07