You have to figure it has to have operational ability out to geosynchronous distances. Which is 22,236 miles up. The moon is roughly 1/4 million, so ~1/10th of the way there.
i cannot make out the X wings on it, rebel leader.
they have absolutely destroyed the credibility of any photograph these days. especially those of space and the cosmos.
just like the gender issue, Pretend takes relevance over facts.. It should be a crime to deceive in such a manner.
Unless the pic is psyops on the Russians, Iran, Chinese, and the NORKS.
Ping!.......................
They used a Falcon Heavy to launch it. Expending the center core to get the mass ratio to put the payload into what was already admitted to a highly elliptical orbit. This means at least a GTO level orbit that would have a peak altitude just outside the GEO belt. Taking a image at apogee would yield an image like that of earth in full disk. The fact they also admit aero maneuvers means perigee is down near low earth orbit you need sensible atmosphere to use the wings and heat shield to lower apogee or do plane change maneuvers. The FH can put 20 tonnes into a GTO level orbit or less mass much higher. They intend to bring it back so it could not have gone fully into GSO it would have needed a huge amount of fuel to brake down from a circular orbit so it has to be in an elliptical orbit with a perigee close enough to earth to use aerobraking to lower it’s orbit until it can reenter using its wings and heat shield. Falcon second stage doesn’t have months of on orbit fuel holding time. It’s LOX would evap and the kero would freeze solid. To use N2O4/UMH would imply a kick stage of at least equal mass to the payload. It’s 1800 meter per second delta V from LEO to GTO then 1200 ish more to GSO. You need exactly the same coming down it’s 1200 ish to an elliptical orbit that has a perigee close enough to earth to use aerobraking at all. So you need 2400 DV from GTO back too GTO that means roughly equal fuel mass to payload mass not including tank mass and engine mass.
X-37B spent 908 days in orbit during its last mission, setting a new endurance record.
How long have those astronauts been stuck on the space station?
If people understood how alone we are they would be nicer.
NAAAAAAAAAAA it’s not in their nature.