# The Weird Orbit of the ISS

## Метаданные

- **Канал:** Real Engineering
- **YouTube:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEYRIpIfnQc
- **Дата:** 29.01.2026
- **Длительность:** 1:49
- **Просмотры:** 193,704

## Содержание

### [0:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEYRIpIfnQc) Segment 1 (00:00 - 01:00)

The ISS has a pretty weird orbit. It orbits at a 51. 6° inclination, which looks like this. It was originally supposed to fly in a 28° orbit, good for launching from Florida, but unreachable from launch sites in Kazakhstan. The orbit changed to 51. 6° to bring in Russia. That number might seem arbitrary, but it was calculated down to the tenth of a degree. With this large inclination, the station passes more populated areas. The specific tenth of a degree comes because launching from Biconor at exactly 51. 6°, the rocket would barely scratch the border of China. This ensured that no spent booster stages from Russian rockets would ever fall on Chinese soil. But the 51. 6° inclination affects how the station is oriented with comparison to the Sun and Earth. The 51° orbit of the ISS means at certain times of year, the station stays in constant sunlight for long stretches. In those periods, the low angle of the sun causes one set of arrays to cast shadows on the others, cutting power. Even worse, parts of the same array can be in shadow while other sections and their supporting beams take the full heat of the sun. These beams that give structure to the wobbly solar panels are vulnerable. Even 20 minutes of uneven shadowing can make sections heat and expand at different rates, twisting the mass and risking damage to the entire array. To help solve this, NASA opened up a $30,000 prize to whoever could create a program that would optimize the solar panel's position while preventing problematic shadowing. This is what they came up with, a smooth turn of solar panels with slight delays to avoid these shadows. You can learn more about the problems with the solar panels on the ISS on the Real Engineering YouTube channel.

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*Источник: https://ekstraktznaniy.ru/video/16082*