Is it possible to place a satellite in geostationary orbit over the north pole?
Asked by:
Ken Bruckart
Answer
No, a geostationary orbit must be in the plane of the Earth's equator. That way, by matching its orbital speed with the speed of a point on the equator, the moving satellite appears to be stationary over that point. Any other orbit would have the satellite appear to drift above and below the equator during the course of a day.
A geosynchronous orbit matches the Earth's rotational speed, but only allows a satellite to appear over the same spot once per day. Depending on your stretch of that definition, a satellite in a perfect polar orbit would pass over each pole once per day and might be called 'geosynchronous', but like the time of day at the poles the terminology becomes ambiguous.
Answered by:
Paul Walorski, B.A., Part-time Physics/Astronomy Instructor
'In a way science is a key to the gates of heaven, and the same key opens the gates of hell, and we do not have any instructions as to which is which gate.
Shall we throw away the key and never have a way to enter the gates of heaven? Or shall we struggle with the problem of which is the best way to use the key?'