Explained in plain English
What is atmospheric drag?
Atmospheric drag is the resistance an object faces when moving through a planet's atmosphere. Even in space, tiny amounts of air particles create friction, slowing down satellites like Swift. This drag causes their orbits to shrink, eventually leading them to fall back to Earth, especially when solar activity heats the atmosphere and makes it expand.
Stories that explain this
Robot launched to save falling NASA space telescopeQuestions this opens up
Why does the atmosphere expand? How high is space? What is orbital velocity?This explainer came from a news story
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