Re: [sarex] question

["Robert Oler" <cvn65vf94@xxxxxxx>]

>From: Matt Henderson <kb3drq@yahoo.com>
>To: sarex@AMSAT.Org
>CC: sarex@AMSAT.Org
>Subject: [sarex] question
>Date: Tue, 3 Apr 2001 11:31:04 -0700 (PDT)
>
>
>
>  For a while I thought that when I read many reports aboutr
>satellites and such that thge word "attitude" was just a
>typo.
>
>
>   What is attitude?
>
>   What is the difference betwenn altitude and attitude?
>
>
>=====
>73 DE Matt, KB3DRQ
>Amateur Callsign: KB3DRQ
>SKYWARN SPOTTER ID: NKM-063
>

lets talk about airplanes because they are more familier.

Altittude is the height in feet above Mean sea level.  So to say an airplane 
is at 35,000 feet (or FL 350) means that it is 35000 feet above mean sea 
level (differences in pressure and absolute ignored here and are not 
important for this discussion).

Attitude is the relationship of the airplane to the horizon in the pitch and 
roll axis and to the velocity vector (or direction of flight in simplest 
terms) for yaw.

Pitch and roll are easiest to understand.  If an aircraft is 3 degrees nose 
up that means that the nose is three degrees to the horizon.  So when an 
airplane takes off its nose typically goes from "level" to in some cases 18 
to 25 degrees as the airplane leaves the runway.  Thats pitch.

Roll is the relationship to "wings level" on the horizon.  So a 30 degree 
bank means that an airplane is in a left or right bank with 30 degrees 
relationship to the horizon.

YAW in simplest terms is when "the pointed end" (the nose) isnt going 
"forward" ie the aircraft is canted to one side of the dirction of flight.

Those are quite simple definitions.

A spacecraft does all three of those things as well although the horizon of 
the earth is not the base line used for the reference. (and neither is it 
strictly in an airplane but the difference is not important).

Questions?

Robert Oler WB5MZO (I am a test pilot BTW)...
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