This xkcd explains this really well. At orbital height, Earth's gravity's pull is still a full 90% of what we experience on the surface. Orbiting objects "dodge" this fall by going really fucking fast.
I think I saw a comparison once that it takes about 15~20X more energy to attain orbit speed as it does to attain orbital height.
This xkcd explains this really well. At orbital height, Earth's gravity's pull is still a full 90% of what we experience on the surface. Orbiting objects "dodge" this fall by going really fucking fast.
I think I saw a comparison once that it takes about 15~20X more energy to attain orbit speed as it does to attain orbital height.