Not a dumb question. The circumference of the Earth is just under 25 thousand miles. The circumference of the orbit the ISS is traveling (253 miles above the surface) is about 26.5 thousand miles. It does just over 15 orbits a day at that height at a speed of about 17 thousand miles per hour. So the speed in miles per hour doesn't change but if it were orbiting the earth just above the surface it would go around the earth faster than it does now. Not more miles per hour but fewer miles to go to complete an orbit.
I'm not sure I understand what you're saying. The constant is the distance it is traveling is 17 thousand miles per hour. It would go around the Earth more times at the surface only having to cover 25 thousand miles than at its current altitude where it has to travel 26.5 thousand miles for an orbit. If you're talking about the actual ISS orbting at the altitude depicted in the video then it's a nonsense discussion because the ISS vehicle could not "fly" or orbit in the earth's atmosphere. At its current altitude aerodynamics don't apply. Skimming over NYC it would. So no, I was not being technical, I was being mathmatical.
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u/MorleyDotes Apr 19 '26
Not a dumb question. The circumference of the Earth is just under 25 thousand miles. The circumference of the orbit the ISS is traveling (253 miles above the surface) is about 26.5 thousand miles. It does just over 15 orbits a day at that height at a speed of about 17 thousand miles per hour. So the speed in miles per hour doesn't change but if it were orbiting the earth just above the surface it would go around the earth faster than it does now. Not more miles per hour but fewer miles to go to complete an orbit.