Newsgroups: sci.space.shuttle
From: Henry Spencer <henry@zoo.toronto.edu>
Subject: Re: Req: Why an inclination?
Date: Mon, 29 Jan 1996 02:08:44 GMT

In article <4e3sh3$9hl@tel.den.mmc.com> "Warren E. Kenyon" <kenyonw> writes:
>...I remember hearing about one manager type, who in a meeting, 
>thought he could save the program an enormous amount of weight by reducing
>the fuel required for orbit adjust manuevers.  He figured you could raise 
>and lower the orbit using the solar arrays.  If you deployed them real fast,
>then retracted them real slow, then deployed them real fast, then retracted
>them real slow......

Although that one's a little ridiculous, note that you *can* make some
kinds of alterations to an orbit by doing this sort of "pumping" with
a tether and an end mass.  In particular, provided your orbit is already
at least slightly elliptical, you can make it more elliptical -- raising 
apogee at the expense of lowering perigee -- by reeling out the tether
upward at apogee and hauling it back in at perigee.
-- 
The Earth is our mother.                           |       Henry Spencer
Our nine months are up...                          |   henry@zoo.toronto.edu