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Climbing out of the Earth's gravity well requires energy, but a launch loop on the rotating Earth can launch to infinity with less than the classical μ/r gravitational escape energy. The difference is taken from the rotational energy of the Earth itself. Climbing out of the Earth's gravity well requires energy, but a launch loop on the rotating Earth can launch to infinity with less than the classical μ/r gravitational escape energy. The rest of the escape energy is taken from the rotational energy of the Earth itself.
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|| $ v_R $       || 465.09 || m/s || Equatorial rotation velocity || || $\large v_R $ || 465.09 || m/s || Equatorial rotation velocity ||

E < μ/r

Climbing out of the Earth's gravity well requires energy, but a launch loop on the rotating Earth can launch to infinity with less than the classical μ/r gravitational escape energy. The rest of the escape energy is taken from the rotational energy of the Earth itself.

\large G

6.67408e-11

m³/kg/s²

Gravitational constant

\large M

5.972e24

kg

Mass of Earth

\large \mu = G M

398600.4418

km³/s²

Standard gravitational parameter of Earth

\large R

6378

km

Equatorial radius of Earth

day

86400

s

solar day (longer than sidereal day)

sday

86141.0905

s

sidereal day (relative to fixed stars)

\large\omega = 2\pi/sday

7.292158e-5

radians/s

Earth sidereal rotation rate

\large v_R

465.09

m/s

Equatorial rotation velocity

and surface radius \large R . The standard gravitational parameter \large \mu for the planet is the product of the gravitational constant \large G and \large M : \large \mu ~=~ G M . The gravity at the surface of the planet is \large g(R) ~=~ \mu / R^2 , and the gravity at radius \large r above the surface is \large g(r) ~=~ \mu / r^2 .

For an

E<μ÷r (last edited 2021-07-17 07:19:46 by KeithLofstrom)