Could Jet Engines Be Used for Space Travel?

In summary: The object needs to be orbiting at more than 140 to 160 km (depending on density) to have a chance of making even one orbit about the Earth. Anything less than that and the object is not "orbiting".[ Citation needed]I suspect that thanks to boatloads of bad science in Star Trek, many people think that orbiting an object at 70 miles is the same as orbiting it at 140-160 km.
  • #36
Perhaps all the bird wanted was a jetstream hike...
 
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  • #37
DaveC426913 said:
its orbit doesn't decay in a matter of mere hours?

The enterprise typically is not in orbit (contrary to what Kirk et al. say) but simply hovering using its impulse engines. Which are reaction-less drives thus nonsense (pending NASA investigation) and not relevant to scientific discussion.

BoB
 
  • #38
rbelli1 said:
The enterprise typically is not in orbit (contrary to what Kirk et al. say) but simply hovering using its impulse engines.
Yeah. No one's ever provided a satisfactory explanation.

Not having discovered orbital velocity in the 23rd centry is about as silly as any other explanation.
 
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