A space probe can be sent to fly past a planet to change its direction and speed
ID: 1349181 • Letter: A
Question
A space probe can be sent to fly past a planet to change its direction and speed. Suppose that a probe approaches Venus from left to right as we are watching it while Venus moves from right to left. There is a gravitational interaction ( this is an example of a nearly perfect elastic collision ) between the two and the probe make a U-turn around Venus. The probe now heads in the opposite direction from its initial velocity.
It is true that Venus is a planet and vastly greater in mass than the probe but leaving that fact to the side for the moment, inprinciple, what happened to Venus?
Explanation / Answer
In principle, the venus has t retrace its path. That means it has to move from right to left after interaction
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