How do you transfer a satellite or other object in space from one orbit to another, say, from an orbit around the Earth to an orbit around Mars? You do it by applying an appropriate "delta-v", that is, by burning fuel to change the satellite's velocity until it has the appropriate value to "enter" the new orbit. From that point on, gravity does the rest so you can turn off the satellite's engines. But how is the necessary delta-v computed? Find out in this essay, for one particularly simple scenario.
Ah, the joys of traveling down memory lane. This is something I wrote on May 18, 1993.
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