. Suppose you want to send a spacecraft to Mars. As a first approximation, assum
ID: 1520472 • Letter: #
Question
. Suppose you want to send a spacecraft to Mars. As a first approximation, assume that the orbit of Earth is circular with Re = 1 AU = 1.5x108 km and orbital period of 1 year = 3.16x107 s. And the orbit of Mars has Rm = 2.27x108 km and orbital period of 5.94x107 s.
f) What is the speed of the spacecraft at the perihelion?
g) How much faster the Earth is the spacecraft traveling?
h) What is the speed of the spacecraft at the aphelion?
i) How much should the spacecraft speed to match the velocity of Mars?
Explanation / Answer
f) speed of the spacecraft at the perihelion = 2 * 3.14 * 2.27x1011/(5.94x107)
= 23999.32 m/sec
g) faster the Earth is the spacecraft traveling = 2 * 3.14 * 1.5x1011/(3.16x107 )
= 29810.12 m/sec
h) the speed of the spacecraft at the aphelion = 2 * 3.14 * 3.5x1011/(5.94x107)
= 37003.36 m/sec
i) the spacecraft speed to match the velocity of Mars = 2 * 3.14 * 6x1011/(5.94x107)
= 63434.34 m/sec
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