eli5: I’ve heard orbit described as continuously falling past or missing the Earth, how then do objects in geosynchronous orbit above a single point not fall out of the sky?

Question

eli5: I’ve heard orbit described as continuously falling past or missing the Earth, how then do objects in geosynchronous orbit above a single point not fall out of the sky?

In: 2204

Answer 1

They fall at the right distance away around the earth that their velocity matches that of the spot on the earth as it rotates. Or another way of thinking about it is that the orbital period is 24 hours around the axis the earth spins. You cannot have geosynchronous orbit by orbiting the poles north south, the farther you deviate from the rotation of the earth the less synchronous it becomes.