General Question Orbit Decay in Orbiter

[EaslMar]

I know this seems like a simple question, but I've been looking through all the manuals and the Orbiter Forum trying to find the answer to this, and have not found anything.

Is atmospheric friction (and particularly the orbit decay it causes) modelled in Orbiter? What I mean is, for example, if I were to run a simulation lasting many (virtual) months, would space stations, etc. need periodic boosts so as not to reenter the atmosphere? Or does anything above 200km stay in its same orbit no matter how low it is?

 

[tl8]

Actually with the 2010 Version, it is. There are a few options available including the 2006 model which doesn't.

 

[othoudt]

On the Orbiter 2010 home page in the News section it reads:

• Improved physics. The atmosphere model for Earth has been significantly improved and now supports micro-drag at high altitudes (up to 2500km). Support for planetary axis precession has been added.

 

[Andy44]

Also, if you want to use the atmosphere model from O2006, you can select it from the Launchpad before starting the scenario. This is nice for those of us with lots of stuff in orbit and lots of time acceleration, as you don't have to worry about your space station deorbiting because you forgot to re-boost it.

 

[EaslMar]

Actually, what I have right now is 2006. (I downloaded it probably a month before 2010 came out, and I'm still learning how everything works.)

So, my understanding is that I don't have to worry about it until I update to 2010, correct? And then I can turn it off in the launchpad if I want to run a long simulation?

Thanks for the help. Actually I'm rather suprised no one's wondered about this before now, but I searched the Forum pretty well before starting this new thread.