Your job with NASA is to monitor satellite orbits. One day, during a routine sur

Question

Your job with NASA is to monitor satellite orbits. One day, during a routine survey, you find that a 400 kg satellite in a 1000-km-high circular orbit is going to collide with a smaller 100 kg satellite traveling in the same orbit but in the opposite direction. Knowing the construction of the two satellites, you expect they will become enmeshed into a single piece of space debris. When you notify your boss of this impending collision, he asks you to quickly determine whether the space debris will continue to orbit or crash into the earth. Do you think the debris will orbit or crash into the earth? Explain your reasoning.

Explanation / Answer

Let
H = height of the orbit above the surface of the earth = 1000 km
M? = mass of one satellite = 400 kg
M? = mass of the other satellite = 100 kg
g = acceleration by gravity near the surface of the earth = 9.81 m/s

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