Imagine you are onboard the International Space Station orbiting Earth and want

Question

Imagine you are onboard the International Space Station orbiting Earth and want to fly to the nearest star. To do

this, you’ll need to escape the Sun’s gravity. In part (c), you calculated the escape velocity from the Sun (this answer is 13.36 X 10^6) , but you’re

already moving pretty fast: the space station is traveling at 8 km/s with respect to the Earth and Earth is orbiting the

Sun with a circular velocity of 30 km/s. If you time things right, how much additional speed to you need?

(Hint: think about how fast you’re

already moving just by being in Earth orbit.)

Explanation / Answer

The escape velocity of the Sun is 13.36 X 10^6 m/s (given by you).

present velocity is 8 km/s=8000 m/s. if the space station need to escape from sun,

then the additional speed required is,

v=13.36 X 10^6 m/s - 8000 m/s

=13.352X 10^6 m/s

=13.35X 10^6 m/s.

i calculated taking your value, but the escape velocity of the sun is 617.5 km/s (from internet). if you calculated according to your question, then the above answer is correct. if not use 617.5 km/sand calculate additional speed.

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