The video I watched for the percent calculation talked about that. In an orbit, the moon wants to move in a straight line (as does the ISS, and every satellite) but the force of the earth keeps it "falling" at the same distance all the time.
Here is the 1/20th of an inch document from Newton.
http://www.michaelbeeson.com/interests/GreatMoments/Newton.pdf
If the moon is falling but never crashes, why do satellites crash into earth often? https://phys.org/news/2018-04-satellite-earth-week-average.html
Is this for a science fair? lol
Anything put into low earth orbit - satellites, ISS, etc, still is affected by atmospheric drag.
Yes, even at 240miles up, there is still air, and that slows things down over time.
The ISS needs a boost every so often to keep it from getting too low, and most satellites have booster rockets to keep them on track.
Does the friction of the atmospheric drag cause heat on the satellites? I thought there was very little air molecules up there as someone explained to me that that was the reason satellites can pass through the thermosphere and not melt.
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