... With enough velocity, a spacecraft can break loose from the Earth's gravity and enter an orbit around the Sun, like that of a planet. If it then orbits the Sun with the same period as the Earth--one year--it may keep a fixed position relative to Earth. ... If the distance is just right--about 4 times the distance to the Moon or 1/100 the distance to the Sun--the spacecraft, too, will need just one year to go around the Sun, and will keep its position between the Sun and the Earth. ...
... By using the tools of sections (20) and (21), the mathematics of approximate solutions developed in (M-5), and assuming all orbits are circles, it is a relatively straightforward job to calculate the distance to the Lagrangian L1 point (or to L2). ... Let the gravitational constant be denoted by G , the mass of the Sun by M , that of Earth by m , the Earth's distance from the Sun by r and its velocity in its orbit by v . ... GMm / r 2 = mv 2 / r . and multiplying both sides by r / m . ...
... Taken from the NASA/JPL information summary "Our Solar System at a Glance". The National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA's) automated spacecraft for solar system exploration come in many shapes and sizes. ... Electrical power is required to operate the spacecraft instruments and systems. ... Between 1959 and 1971, NASA spacecraft were dispatched to study the Moon and the solar environment; they also scanned the inner planets other than Earth -- Mercury , Venus and Mars . ...