In the film Mission to Mars (released in 2000), the spacecraft (see the figure b
ID: 3895849 • Letter: I
Question
In the film Mission to Mars (released in 2000), the spacecraft (see the figure below) features a rotating section to provide artificial gravity for the long voyage. A physicist viewing a scene from the interior of the spacecraft notices that the diameter of the rotating portion of the ship is about five times the height of an astronaut walking in that section (or about 10 m). Later, in a scene showing the spacecraft from the exterior, she notices that the living quarters of the ship rotate with a period of about 30 s.
afeet = m/s2 ahead = m/s2Explanation / Answer
The centripetal acceleration is v^2/r
v = d/t
v = 2pir/30
v at the feet = 2pi(5)/30 = 1.04 m/s
a feet = 1.04^2/5 = .219 m/s^2
v at the head = 2pi(3)/30 = .628 m/s
a feet = .628^2/3 = .131 m/s^2
Dividing both of those by g...
afeet/g = .0224
ahead/g = .0134
The movie was way off!
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