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| | [3.0] Gravity & Orbital Mechanics [encyclopedia] (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-22) |
 | | The orbital radius is measured in meters from the center, not the surface, of the Earth. |
 | | Orbital planning software calculates one set of conics to define the spacecraft's trajectory at launch, calculates a second set of conics for the spacecraft's trajectory at its target, and tries to find one conic in each set that match up. |
 | | The constant can be simplified by specifying the orbital radius in terms of the Earth's orbit, or "astronomical unit (AU)", the orbital period in terms the Earth's orbital period, or years, and the system mass in terms of multiples of the mass of the Sun. |
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