You are in the early stages of an internship at NASA. Your supervisor has asked you to analyze emergency procedures for extravehicular activity (EVA), when the astronauts leave the International Space Station (ISS) to do repairs to its exterior or perform other tasks. In particular, the scenario you are studying is a failure of the manned-maneuvering unit (MMU), which is a nitrogen-propelled backpack that attaches to the astronaut's primary life support system (PLSS). In this scenario, the astronaut is floating directly away from the ISS and cannot use the failed MMU to get back. Therefore, the emergency plan is to take off the MMU and throw it in a direction directly away from the ISS, an action that will hopefully cause the astronaut to reverse direction and float back to the station. You have the following mass data provided to you: astronaut: 78.1 kg, spacesuit: 36.8 kg, MMU: 115 kg, PLSS: 145 kg. Based on tests performed by astronauts floating "weightless" inside the ISS, the most kinetic energy they can impart to an object by throwing it while floating is about 100 J, measured in the rest frame of the ISS. Your supervisor asks you to determine an upper limit of the speed with which an astronaut can drift away from the ISS and rescue himself by throwing his failed MMU. (Give your answer in m/s.) m/s
You are in the early stages of an internship at NASA. Your supervisor has asked you to analyze emergency procedures for extravehicular activity (EVA), when the astronauts leave the International Space Station (ISS) to do repairs to its exterior or perform other tasks. In particular, the scenario you are studying is a failure of the manned-maneuvering unit (MMU), which is a nitrogen-propelled backpack that attaches to the astronaut's primary life support system (PLSS). In this scenario, the astronaut is floating directly away from the ISS and cannot use the failed MMU to get back. Therefore, the emergency plan is to take off the MMU and throw it in a direction directly away from the ISS, an action that will hopefully cause the astronaut to reverse direction and float back to the station. You have the following mass data provided to you: astronaut: 78.1 kg, spacesuit: 36.8 kg, MMU: 115 kg, PLSS: 145 kg. Based on tests performed by astronauts floating "weightless" inside the ISS, the most kinetic energy they can impart to an object by throwing it while floating is about 100 J, measured in the rest frame of the ISS. Your supervisor asks you to determine an upper limit of the speed with which an astronaut can drift away from the ISS and rescue himself by throwing his failed MMU. (Give your answer in m/s.) m/s
College Physics
1st Edition
ISBN:9781938168000
Author:Paul Peter Urone, Roger Hinrichs
Publisher:Paul Peter Urone, Roger Hinrichs
Chapter12: Fluid Dynamics And Its Biological And Medical Applications
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Transcribed Image Text:You are in the early stages of an internship at NASA. Your supervisor has asked you to analyze emergency procedures for extravehicular activity (EVA), when the astronauts leave the International Space Station (ISS) to do repairs to its exterior or perform other tasks. In particular, the
scenario you are studying is a failure of the manned-maneuvering unit (MMU), which is a nitrogen-propelled backpack that attaches to the astronaut's primary life support system (PLSS). In this scenario, the astronaut is floating directly away from the ISS and cannot use the failed MMU to
get back. Therefore, the emergency plan is to take off the MMU and throw it in a direction directly away from the ISS, an action that will hopefully cause the astronaut to reverse direction and float back to the station.
You have the following mass data provided to you: astronaut: 78.1 kg, spacesuit: 36.8 kg, MMU: 115 kg, PLSS: 145 kg. Based on tests performed by astronauts floating "weightless" inside the ISS, the most kinetic energy they can impart to an object by throwing it while floating is about
100 J, measured in the rest frame of the ISS. Your supervisor asks you to determine an upper limit of the speed with which an astronaut can drift away from the ISS and rescue himself by throwing his failed MMU. (Give your answer in m/s.)
m/s
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