What kind of orbit was FUSE be placed into?
FUSE is in a nearly circular orbit roughly 760 km (475 miles) above the earth’s surface. The orbit is inclined 25 degrees with respect to the equator and it will take FUSE about 100 minutes to go around once. • Where is FUSE right now? We calculate FUSE’s position in orbit using ground tracking data provided by NORAD (which actually tracks all kinds of stuff up there!). Each week we get a new set of “orbital elements” that allow us to predict FUSE’s position and calculate when we will be able to contact the satellite from the available ground stations. You can see where FUSE is right now, too! Check out the Heavens Above Satellite Predictions page, which will calculate FUSE’s current position in its track around the earth and show you a graphic of it’s position. • How do you communicate with FUSE in orbit? An interesting question. Most of the time, we don’t! We can only “talk” to FUSE when it is within range of a ground-station. Our primary ground station antenna is located at the Univ