(A and B are one question) (2 part question)
As part of a joint Afghanistan-American expedition to Mars, youhave been selected to descend to the surface from the parent shipthat will orbit the Red Planet. Mars has a radius 0.53 times thatof Earth and a mass equal to 0.11 times the mass of theEarth.
b. Calculate the orbital radius andvelocity of the parent ship if it were to stay in a circularsynchronous orbit around Mars. Why are these values different thanthose for Earth? Show your work.
[Hint: a synchronousorbit is the condition in which the secondary bodyorbits the primary in the same amount of time that theprimary body rotates (spins) once on its axis. For example, imaginea spacecraft orbiting (revolving) around a planet in the sameamount of time the planet rotates on its axis. This means that anobserver on the planet always sees the revolving secondary bodydirectly overhead. In other words, the object never falls below thehorizon but instead ‘hangs out’ at one place in the sky as seen byan observer on the surface of the planet. If one wanted to monitora specific location continuously, the idea would be to place asatellite in a geosynchronous orbit above that particular location.Then the satellite would be able to watch that locationcontinuously. If the satellite had IR detectors it could watch atnight as well. Many weather satellites occupy geosynchronous orbits(or approximately so) and have sensors to monitor in the visibleand IR parts of the electromagnetic spectrum. Because water vaporabsorbs in the IR, its concentration in the atmosphere in thegaseous state (i.e., other than in clouds (water droplets or icecrystals) can also be determined by satellite measurement.]
(A and B are one question) (2 part question) As part of a joint Afghanistan-American expedition to Mars, you have been s
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