<< What keeps satellites in orbit is not that they are beyond the reach of
gravity, but that they are going sideways very fast. Like anything thrown
sideways, their path bends downwards as they begin to fall. However, they
are going so fast that after they have fallen 1 km, the earth below them
has receded more than 1 km becuse of its curvature. So they keep falling
toward the Earth, but missing.
What I said in my original post is that it is much harder to get enough
sideways speed to get to orbit than merely to get to 100 km of height.
--Carl Feynman
>>
Is it possible to have a cord connected to earth as it's still freefalling?
Well, I guess it couldnt be attached to one spot on the earth, but maybe to
a track or separate cord that went around the earth, and have enough leeway
that it could stop temporarily at stations along the track to upload supplies
or whatever into the cord connecting to the object in space, well i guess it
would have to be a tube. I dunno how it would get up there, perhaps some
kind of suction system . There's a problem with air resistance too.
danny