| rdfs:comment
| - Lagrange Points are locations in space where gravitational forces and the orbital motion of a body balance each other. They were discovered by French mathematician Louis Lagrange in 1772 in his gravitational studies of the 'Three Body Problem': how a third, small, body would orbit around two orbiting large ones. There are five Lagrangian points in the Sun-Earth system and such points also exist in the Earth-Moon system.
- Any one of the five solutions to the three-body problem of gravitational attraction formulated by the 18th century mathematician Joseph-Louis Lagrange. Lagrange was searching for a stable configuration in which three bodies could mutually orbit each other and stay in the same position relative to each other. He found five such solutions, and they are called the five Lagrange points in honor of their discoverer.
- A Lagrange point is a point in space where the gravitational forces of two larger bodies, for example stars or planets, and the centrifugal force of a third, smaller object at that point cancel each other out. This allows the third object, for example a starship, to assume a fixed position relative to the other two objects without any power consumption. Within star systems, several such points existed. The L5 Test Station, part of the NX Project, was located at Earth's L5. (ENT: "First Flight")
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| abstract
| - A Lagrange point is a point in space where the gravitational forces of two larger bodies, for example stars or planets, and the centrifugal force of a third, smaller object at that point cancel each other out. This allows the third object, for example a starship, to assume a fixed position relative to the other two objects without any power consumption. Within star systems, several such points existed. The L5 Test Station, part of the NX Project, was located at Earth's L5. (ENT: "First Flight") The Rigel VII Lagrange colony was located at one of Rigel VII's Lagrange points. (TNG-R: "Inheritance" ) When a Delta Rana warship virtually appeared out of nothing in the proximity of Delta Rana IV, Riker assumed that the ship was riding a Lagrange point behind Rana IV's farthest moon. (TNG: "The Survivors" )
- Any one of the five solutions to the three-body problem of gravitational attraction formulated by the 18th century mathematician Joseph-Louis Lagrange. Lagrange was searching for a stable configuration in which three bodies could mutually orbit each other and stay in the same position relative to each other. He found five such solutions, and they are called the five Lagrange points in honor of their discoverer. In three of the solutions found by Lagrange, the bodies are in line; in the other two the bodies are at the points of equilateral triangles. The five lagrangian points for a binary system are as follows;
* First Lagrange Point (L1) is an orbit in line with and between the binary pair.
* Second Lagrange Point (L2) is an orbit in line with and outside the orbit of the smallest of the binary pair.
* Third Lagrange Point (L3) is an orbit identical in distance to the distance between the two bodies of the binary pair but in opposition to the orbital position of the smallest of the binary pair.
* Fourth Lagrange Point (L4) is in the same orbit as the smallest of the binary pair but 60° ahead of it position.
* Fifth Lagrange Point (L5) is in the same orbit as the smallest of the binary pair but trailing its position by 60°.
- Lagrange Points are locations in space where gravitational forces and the orbital motion of a body balance each other. They were discovered by French mathematician Louis Lagrange in 1772 in his gravitational studies of the 'Three Body Problem': how a third, small, body would orbit around two orbiting large ones. There are five Lagrangian points in the Sun-Earth system and such points also exist in the Earth-Moon system. Kepler’s laws require that the closer a planet is to the Sun, the faster it will move. Any spacecraft going around the Sun in an orbit smaller than Earth's will also soon overtake and move away, and will not keep a fixed station relative to Earth. However, there is a loophole. If the spacecraft is placed between a Sun and a Planet, the Planet's gravity pulls it in the opposite direction and cancels some of the pull of the Sun. With a weaker pull towards the Sun, the spacecraft then needs less speed to maintain its orbit. If the distance is just right - about a hundredth of the distance to the Sun - the spacecraft, too, will keep its position between the Sun and the Planet. A surveillance or imaging spacecraft at this point would not have to make constant orbits of the Planet, which result in it passing in and out of the Planets shadow and causing it to heat up and cool down, distorting its view. Free from this restriction and far away from any heat radiated, it provides a much more stable viewpoint.
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