Earth's orbital velocity is about 29 km/s and that maintains its nearly circular orbit. Suppose we had a spacecraft following Earth in its orbit, and we applied a rocket to slow it to 25 km/s. Assume the thrust is entirely in the plane of the orbit, so the spacecraft stays in the same plane as Earth's orbit. What happens? It falls in to sun and is then flung out of the solar system altogether by the energy it picks up on this path. The spacecraft goes into a new orbit that is an ellipse with perihelion (nearest to Sun) at Earth's orbit. It stays in the same orbit with the Earth but takes longer to complete its new nearly circular orbit. The spacecraft goes into a new orbit that is an ellipse with aphelion (farthest from Sun) at Earth's orbit.
Earth's orbital velocity is about 29 km/s and that maintains its nearly circular orbit. Suppose we had a spacecraft following Earth in its orbit, and we applied a rocket to slow it to 25 km/s. Assume the thrust is entirely in the plane of the orbit, so the spacecraft stays in the same plane as Earth's orbit. What happens?
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It falls in to sun and is then flung out of the solar system altogether by the energy it picks up on this path. |
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The spacecraft goes into a new orbit that is an ellipse with perihelion (nearest to Sun) at Earth's orbit. |
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It stays in the same orbit with the Earth but takes longer to complete its new nearly circular orbit. |
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The spacecraft goes into a new orbit that is an ellipse with aphelion (farthest from Sun) at Earth's orbit. |
Given that,
earth's orbital velocity = 29 km/s
spacecraft's velocity = 25 km/s
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