The solar Maximum Mission Satellite was placed in a circular orbit about 150 miles above the earth?
Question:
Answer:
Let me convert to SI. 150 miles = 240 km
a) The speed of a circular orbit is given by equation
v = sqrt( u/r)
where u = standard gravitational parameter
and r = radius of orbit
(ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/circular_or...
For earth u = 398,600km^3s^-2
and r is radius of earth plus 240 km so
r = 6,370 km + 240 = 6,610 km
v = sqrt(398,600km^3s^-2/6,610 km) = sqrt(60.3 km^2.s^-2)
v = 7.77 km/s = 4.85 mps = 17,482 mph
b) the orbit length is 2Pir = 2* 3.14 * 6,610km = 41,510.8 km
The time to cross this distance at 7.77km/s is
t = 41,510.8 km / 7.77 km/s = 5342.4 s = 1.48 hour
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