MFE - Rockets and Satellites

A rocket can rise into the air because the gases it expels downward create an

equal but opposite force on the rocket.

The gases from a rocket going downward are the action force, and these same gases become the

reaction force.

A satellite is any object that

orbits another object in space.

Any force that causes an object to move in a circular path is a

centripetal force.

Centripetal means

center seeking.

Instead of falling to Earth, artificial satellites fall

around Earth.

Satellites in orbit around the Earth continuously fall toward Earth, but because Earth is curved...

the travel around it.

The natural satellite that orbits Earth is the

moon.