(Received 3 February 2000; accepted 10 July 2000)
A problem of relative motion of orbiting bodies is investigated
on the example of the free motion of any body ejected from
the orbital station that stays in a circular orbit around the earth.
An elementary approach is illustrated by a simulation computer
program and supported by a mathematical treatment based on
approximate differential equations of the relative orbital motion.
©2001 American Association of Physics Teachers.
DOI: 10.1119/1.1313520
PACS: 01.50.-i, 45.50.Pk, 95.10.Ce
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