Chapter 6, Problem 86RPP

Space Shuttle launch The mass of the Space Shuttle at launch was about $\text{2}\text{.1 }\times {\text{ 10}}^{\text{6}}\text{kg}$. Much of this mass was the fuel used to move the orbiter, which carried the astronauts and various items in the shuttle’s payload. The Space Shuttle generally traveled from $\text{3}\text{.2 }\times {\text{ 10}}^{\text{5}}\text{m }\left(\text{200 mi}\right)\text{ to6}\text{.2 }\times {\text{ 10}}^{\text{5}}\text{m}$

(385 mi) above Earth’s surface. The shuttle’s two solid fuel boosters (the cylinders on the sides of the shuttle) provided 71.4% of the thrust during liftoff and the first stage of ascent before being released from the shuttle 132 s after launch at 48,000 m above sea level. The boosters continued moving up in free fall to an altitude of approximately 70,000 m and then fell toward the ocean to be recovered 230 km from the launch site. The shuttle’s five engines together provided $\text{3}\text{.46 }\times {\text{ 10}}^{\text{7}}\text{N}$ of thrust during liftoff.

The boosters were released from the shuttle 132 s after launch. How did their vertical components of velocity compare to that of the shuttle at the instant of release?

a. The boosters' vertical component of velocity is zero.

b. The boosters' vertical component of velocity is about $\text{–9}\text{.8 m/s}$.

c. The vertical component of velocity of the boosters and that of the shuttle are the same.

d. There is too little information to decide.