Orbital Mechanics – Types of Orbits

What is an orbit?

• A straight path taken by a planet

• A circular or elliptical path around a planet or star

• The gravitational pull of a planet

• The rotation of a planet on its axis

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Which of the following is a natural satellite of Earth?

• Mars

• The Moon

• The Sun

• Venus

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Who proposed the heliocentric model of the solar system?

• Ptolemy

• Copernicus

• Galileo

• Newton

What shape did Kepler determine planetary orbits to be?

• Perfect circles

• Spiral paths

• Ellipses

• Triangles

What does Newton’s Law of Universal Gravitation explain?

• How atoms form

• The speed of light

• The force of gravity between two masses

• Magnetic fields

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What was Ptolemy’s model of the universe?

• Heliocentric

• Geocentric

• Atomic

• Elliptical

What tool did Galileo use to observe celestial bodies?

• Microscope

• Telescope

• Periscope

• Binoculars

What did Galileo discover about Jupiter?

• It has rings

• It has moons that orbit it

• It rotates backward

• It does not move

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Why was the heliocentric model initially rejected by many?

• It didn’t make mathematical sense

• It opposed religious beliefs

• It couldn’t be tested

• It supported the geocentric theory

Which scientist developed the three laws of motion?

• Kepler

• Copernicus

• Newton

• Galileo

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