A space station orbits the sun at the same distance as the earth but on the opposite side of the sun. A small probe is fired away from the station. what minimum speed does the probe need to escape the solar system?

Question

Physics

Camden Stein

15 July, 05:16

A space station orbits the sun at the same distance as the earth but on the opposite side of the sun. A small probe is fired away from the station. what minimum speed does the probe need to escape the solar system?

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Answers (1)

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Jaxon Lutz · Answer 1

11 km/s

Explanation:

For any body in space (spacial stations, stars, planets, etc), exists a certain minimum speed that must be given to an object to escape the gravitational pull of that body; for the Earth, it has a value of 11 km/s. This value depends on the universal gravitation constant (G), the mass of the sun (m), the distance between the sun and the object (r2), and the height in the atmosphere from which the ejection takes place (r1) by the following equation: minimum velocity = sqrt{ (2*G*m) (1/r1 - 1/r2) }. In this case, the space station is at the same distance as earth, and the other variables are also the same as in the Earth, so the velocity is the same.