Paratus
Lifer
- Jun 4, 2004
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Your forgetting that there is no air in space, that's why things that look"flimsy" do just fine, 20K MPH, 40K MPH is irrelevant, there is no wind resistance because there is no air..
You are right and wrong.
You are right that from a structural loading perspective there's not enough air resistance to really be a concern. But from attitude control and altitude air resistance plays a big part.
We do reboosts several times a year to combat drag. Plus we normally fly in a torque equilibrium attitude where air resistance and gravity gradients are the biggest torques.