QUESTION:
Are you actually in orbit?

ANSWER from Tom McMahon on October 24, 1995:
Here is an answer to your question. The Kuiper Observatory flies at 41,000
feet or about 8 miles. This altitude is very close to the Earth compared 
to satellites and the space shuttle. The shuttle flies between 150 miles and 
300 miles. The space shuttle also moves much faster than the Kuiper, about 
17,000 mph. The Kuiper flies at only 450 to 500 mph!

So the Kuiper Observatory would need to fly much faster and higher to be in
orbit.

Tom McMahon
University of Chicago