Difference between revisions of "Talk:Ballistic missile"
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If you want to be precise: Even a thrown stone briefly orbits the Earth. ;) I would change the opening part to "missile which briefly goes into an exoatmospheric orbit" so you have a qualifier for the overly broad term "orbit". --[[User:Jenkins|Jenkins]] 17:09, 20 September 2007 (EDT) | If you want to be precise: Even a thrown stone briefly orbits the Earth. ;) I would change the opening part to "missile which briefly goes into an exoatmospheric orbit" so you have a qualifier for the overly broad term "orbit". --[[User:Jenkins|Jenkins]] 17:09, 20 September 2007 (EDT) | ||
| + | :That's a good point. Ballistic missiles, in modern usage, simply refers to missiles which leave the atmosphere. None complete a full orbit, and in this sense they are not different from an ordinary missile. It's the perigee of their trajectory which seperates them. "orbits the Earth" is a bad term to use. [[User:JacobB|JacobB]] 23:23, 3 January 2010 (EST) | ||
Revision as of 04:23, January 4, 2010
Orbit and atmosphere
If you want to be precise: Even a thrown stone briefly orbits the Earth. ;) I would change the opening part to "missile which briefly goes into an exoatmospheric orbit" so you have a qualifier for the overly broad term "orbit". --Jenkins 17:09, 20 September 2007 (EDT)
- That's a good point. Ballistic missiles, in modern usage, simply refers to missiles which leave the atmosphere. None complete a full orbit, and in this sense they are not different from an ordinary missile. It's the perigee of their trajectory which seperates them. "orbits the Earth" is a bad term to use. JacobB 23:23, 3 January 2010 (EST)