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?
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The closer you are to the surface of the Earth, the faster you have to be moving sideways in order to “miss” the Earth as you fall.
As you get farther from the surface, the speed necessary to continuously “miss” the Earth drops.
The Earth is also rotating. Close to the surface, you have to be moving much faster than the surface of the Earth to stay in orbit. Very far away, you can move slower than the Earth turns and still stay in orbit.
Between those two points, there is a specific height where the speed necessary to stay in orbit results in you taking 24 hours to orbit the Earth. This is the same time it takes for the Earth to turn once on its axis, so assuming that the orbit is happening approximately above the equator, it will appear that the satellite is hovering above you to someone standing on the Earth.
But it’s not hovering. It’s still “falling past” the Earth. It’s just falling past at the same rate and in the same direction that the Earth turns.
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