Chapter 6, Problem 88RPP

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.

What was the approximate impulse of Earth’s gravitational force exerted on the shuttle during the first 10 s of flight?

$\begin{array}{l}\text{a}\text{. 980 N }\cdot \text{ s downward}\hfill \\ \text{b}\text{. 980 N }\cdot \text{ s upward}\hfill \\ \text{c}\text{. 2}\text{.1 }\times {\text{ 10}}^{\text{7}}\text{N }\cdot \text{ s upward}\hfill \\ \text{d}\text{. 2}\text{.1 }\times {\text{ 10}}^{\text{8}}\text{N }\cdot \text{ s upward}\hfill \\ \text{e}\text{. 2}\text{.1 }\times {\text{ 10}}^{\text{8}}\text{N }\cdot \text{ s downward}\hfill \end{array}$