After performing de-orbit maneuvers in February and March 2019, the Van Allen Probes' highly elliptical orbits will gradually tighten over the next 15-25 years as the spacecraft experience ...

On July 7, 2024, NOAA's GOES-U executed its final engine burn, placing the satellite in geostationary orbit 22,236 miles above Earth's equator. Upon reaching this milestone, GOES-U was renamed ...

A diagram of Earth's elliptical orbit around the sun. (Image credit: NOAA) Earth's perihelion takes place in early January.

The photo, taken during the X-37B’s seventh mission, shows Earth from High-Elliptical Orbit. On Feb. 20, 2025, the Secretary of the Air Force Public Affairs uploaded on the DVIDS website, what ...

These periods of more-elliptical orbits are separated by about 100,000 years. Ice ages occur about every 100,000 years, and they line up exactly with this change in the Earth's elliptical shape." ...

Asteroid 2010 TK7 should remain in a stable, elliptical orbit for at least another 10,000 years, slowing oscillating between being 12 million and 200 million miles away from us. You can see its ...

🚀#X37B is currently performing advanced aerobraking maneuvers, taking it from a highly elliptical orbit and lowering its altitude using minimal fuel.. This first-of-its-kind demonstration ...

The orbit was far closer to a perfect circle than I had previously thought. If the orbit were a 26-inch (660.4mm) bicycle wheel the deviation from a perfect circle would be less than 0.1mm.

"Starman" has had a smooth ride through the solar system — at least so far. The spacesuit-wearing mannequin and its red Tesla Roadster have now sped beyond the orbit of Mars after launching into ...

Launching a spacecraft into Earth orbit is a difficult job that involves multiple stages. This diagram illustrates the many steps needed to get NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE ...

Neptune’s orbit is essentially circular and in the same plane as most planets (the ecliptic plane), while Pluto’s orbit is elliptical and tilts 17º to the ecliptic.