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Aseyhe t1_j26wt7e wrote

Reply to comment by bitwaba in How fast does the Milky Way spin? How far does Earth move through space in a year? by Sabre-Tooth-Monkey

Yes, you have to speed up to get to a higher orbit -- and paradoxically, that still results in you moving slower, on average! This is an extremely interesting feature of gravitational systems; for example, it means they have a negative heat capacity (adding energy cools them).

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desepticon t1_j271xta wrote

Learning this in Kerbal space program was a big "aha". You aren't so much controlling your speed as you are just altering your orbit on the opposite side of the planet.

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swampshark19 t1_j2brjyx wrote

Is this related to gravitational potential being understood as negative energy?

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