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Google Earth API Sample

Here's a sneak preview of "Satellites and Space Debris"

It's currently under development and here are some brief instructions:

At the time of writing, the required Google Earth browser plugin was not available for Safari - only Chrome, Firefox and IE.

To zoom, first centre the Earth in the frame.

The circle of yellow ‘dots’ are satellites in geostationary orbit, some 36,000km above the equator.

Grey objects are satellites/space debris, while the white spots are stars or planets.

When the ‘hand’ turns into a ‘pointer’, clicking it will give details of the satellite (or debris).

A ‘crossed arrows’ symbol means there are more than one satellite there – navigate carefully and you can pick out each one.

To close the data window, move the pointer until a ‘hand’ appears; then click.

As you zoom in you'll see the thousands of near-Earth objects in the range 300 to 8,000km circling the Earth!!

In order to view an object's orbit in either the earth fixed frame or the intertial frame (options in the object's data window) you'll need to have the Google Earth application installed on your computer.

Enjoy!

Acknowledgement and thanks to Wang Ting for all his earlier work on this.