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 have enough forward speed to fall to earth but never hit. That’s orbit.

They are also at just the right distance that they orbit the earth in the same amount of time it takes for the earth to rotate(24 hours). So from our point of view here on earth they stay in the same spot in the sky always.