What stops a train jumper but not a satellite, and why does it keep falling?

Research question: What does the ground do to a jumper from a moving train that it does not do to a satellite, and why does a satellite keep falling around Earth instead of landing?

The only verified fact supplied concerns small satellites in Low Earth Orbit, where atmospheric drag and solar radiation pressure are the main non-conservative forces acting on them ¹. It states that these two forces are often of comparable magnitude, but it does not explain gravity or why a satellite keeps moving instead of landing, so the orbital half of the question is only partly addressed ¹. Nothing in the supplied facts covers what the ground does to a jumper from a moving train, so that half cannot be answered from these sources ¹. The newest fact was published 3 November 2025, roughly eleven months before October 2026, so it may not reflect current conditions ¹.

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