Quote:
|
Originally Posted by bnt
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by probes
While you are at puzzles anyway, would anybody help me explain a friend why planes flying against the rotating of the Earth have to fly forward at all - he claims they could get off and stay up there until the Earth turns the destination right below them.
|
Because planes fly against the air, and the air is generally following the rotation of the earth. It doesn't do so perfectly, of course, and when it doesn't, that's what we call "wind". If planes went above the atmosphere, as satellites do, that would be a different matter entirely. |
Ok - so consider a satellite, orbiting the Earth. Does it travel a different speed if it orbits west to east, than east to west? If the Earth is spinning beneath it, does it care? If it doesn't how do we measure it's speed in orbit, given everything that we measure speed FROM is moving beneath it?
...... that's why they know it's advantageous to launch from west to east ( and in you can, launch from a launch site at as low a latitude as possible)....but I reckon you know that...
