ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

ECI (coordinates)

When people want to go somewhere or find something, they need to know exactly where it is. So people use something called coordinates to help them figure out where things are. A coordinate is like a secret code for a place, and it tells you exactly where that place is on a map or on the earth.

ECI stands for Earth Centered Inertial. That's a way of using coordinates to describe where things are in space. You see, there are a lot of things flying around in space, like satellites and spacecraft. And they move around a lot, so we need a way to keep track of where they are.

The Earth Centered part of ECI means that we are using the center of the earth as our starting point. The Inertial part means that we are using a reference frame that's not moving. Think of it like you're standing still and watching a car drive by. You're not moving, but the car is.

So when we use ECI coordinates, we're using the center of the earth as a starting point, and we're not moving. That way, we can keep track of things that are flying around in space and know exactly where they are.

It's kind of like playing a giant game of hide and seek, but instead of saying "you're getting warmer" or "you're getting colder," we use ECI coordinates to say "you're getting closer" or "you're getting farther away." So ECI coordinates are really helpful for scientists and engineers who work with things that fly around in space.