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Space design
Name: Scott
Status: N/A
Age: N/A
Location: N/A
Country: N/A
Date: 1991
Question:
Hi I am in Alb. New Mexico and I have a bunch of students entering a Space
design contest. I will be posting here and the same set in Engineering and a
astronomy, please answer the ones you will and thanks in advance
Space Design Contest Questions
1. What are the Dimensions of nuclear heat and power generators on current o
orbiters
2. Other than rotation are there any other ways to falsify gravity? How?
3. Do you use microwaves, TV signals, or radio to communicate with outer spa
4. What is the current speed of an orbiter, given current technology?
5. When they are closest, what is the distance between Earth and Mars?
6. When are they the closest?
7. How far from the surface should the orbiter be?
8. How can aquatic mammals breathe in a water tank?
Replies:
Well, I can answer 8: aquatic mammals do not breathe underwater: they
must surface occasionally to breathe, although some aquatic mammals can
stay underwater for incredible lengths of time
and number 2: any acceleration will induce weight to mass, it does not have
to be rotation. Linear acceleration works as well.
John Hawley
I am not quite sure what you mean by "orbiter" in all this. Do
you mean man-made earth satellites, or satellites we have sent to
orbit other planets? In any case, the answer to question number 4
does not depend on technology - a satellite orbiting a planet always
moves at speed determined by its orbit (unless it is expending
energy to stay up there, in which case it would not be an orbiter
but just an ordinary rocket). These speeds can be determined
by standard equations for orbital motion - let me know if you need more
details.
Question number 3: any kind of radiation would work - TV signals are
usually also called "radio waves" by the way. The only problem is the
radio signals have to get through the atmosphere easily, and of course
we also have to have good methods for generating and interpreting the
signals. I believe the standard signals used for communication with
satellites are somewhat high-frequency radio, but you should get somebody
else to verify this.
Question numbers 5 and 6: Earth and Mars have nearly circular
orbits in the "ecliptic" plane, so their closest separation is the
difference between their orbit radii - the numbers should be in any
book on the planets. Their farthest distance is the sum of the two
radii, by the way. They are closest every time the earth catches
up to Mars in its race around the sun - about every year and a half, I
think.
Arthur Smith
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