message 0167

• Docking at a space station

>Date: Fri, 4 Jun 93 06:51:37 -0500
>From: bjgaed@ccmail.monsanto.com
>Subject: Post to cherryhlist

	Hi, all--



All this discussion of jump- and rocket-drives has brought up a 

problem that has puzzled me for a long time:



All indications are that ships in the Union/Alliance universe dock 

at the rim of a station.  How does a ship maneuver to match spins 

with the station rim?



There is a sketchy description of this maneuver in _Chanur's 

Legacy_ where the _Legacy_, trying to avoid contact with station 

comp, matches spins and docks using ship comp and piloting, but 

details are lacking.



The physics of such a maneuver boggle my mind.  How do you get a 

ship moving in a circle?  To my mind you would need a tremendous 

amount of fuel to match the trajectory of the station rim.



Maybe you don't try to match the circular trajectory?  Maybe you 

approach on a tangent vector that places you at zero relative V at 

the moment of closest approach and attach to docking grapples at 

that instant? 



Can anyone describe to me how such a maneuver could be carried out?



Bruce Gaede