  We study the usage of the X-ray light curve, column density toward the hard
X-ray source, and emission measure (density square times volume), of the
massive binary system Eta Carinae to determine the orientation of its
semi-major axis. The source of the hard X-ray emission is the shocked secondary
wind. We argue that, by itself, the observed X-ray flux cannot teach us much
about the orientation of the semi-major axis. Minor adjustment of some unknown
parameters of the binary system allows to fit the X-ray light curve with almost
any inclination angle and orientation. The column density and X-ray emission
measure, on the other hand, impose strong constrains on the orientation. We
improve our previous calculations and show that the column density is more
compatible with an orientation where for most of the time the secondary - the
hotter, less massive star - is behind the primary star. The secondary comes
closer to the observer only for a short time near periastron passage. The
ten-week X-ray deep minimum, which results from a large decrease in the
emission measure, implies that the regular secondary wind is substantially
suppressed during that period. This suppression is most likely resulted by
accretion of mass from the dense wind of the primary luminous blue variable
(LBV) star. The accretion from the equatorial plane might lead to the formation
of a polar outflow. We suggest that the polar outflow contributes to the soft
X-ray emission during the X-ray minimum; the other source is the shocked
secondary wind in the tail. The conclusion that accretion occurs at each
periastron passage, every five and a half years, implies that accretion had
occurred at a much higher rate during the 20 Great Eruption of Eta Carinae in
the 19th century.
