Is it true that the black hole would not suck in a spaceship if the space ship orbited the black hole in a certain way?

Question: Is it true that the black hole would not suck in a spaceship if the space ship orbited the black hole in a certain way?

Asked by suhani to Laura, Lily, Mark, Paul, Sarah on 22 Jun 2010 in Categories: General.
- Paul Roche answered on 21 Jun 2010:
  
  Yes, if you could orbit around it at just the right speed and distance you would be safe from being pulled in – but there would still be a lot of very nasty and dangerous radiation blasting you! In theory, you can orbit around a black hole very close to the edge (although this would be extremely dangerous!), but as soon as you cross the “Event Horizon” (the edge of the black hole) you can NEVER cross back again – you are trapped, and doomed to fall to the centre, and be crushed to infite density (we think….)
- Lily Asquith answered on 21 Jun 2010:
  
  Yes. You’d have to be very careful with calculating it correctly, but if you travelled at exactly the right speed and on a very particular course you could orbit a black hole.
- Mark Roberts answered on 21 Jun 2010:
  
  I don’t know – ask a physicist / astronomer!
- Laura Maliszewski answered on 22 Jun 2010:
  
  I haven’t the first idea. It would be pretty cool if you could evade a black hole, but how would you know the black hole was there?

Question: Is it true that the black hole would not suck in a spaceship if the space ship orbited the black hole in a certain way?