9. In 1998, NASA and the ESA (European Space Agency) not only lost millions of d

Question

9. In 1998, NASA and the ESA (European Space Agency) not only lost millions of dollars in equipment, but they also lost all communications with Earth during the SOHO Heliospheric Observatory project. Reasons included errors in navigational measurements and missing conversion factors. Suppose the spacecraft was required to maintain an altitude of 75 kilometers to avoid exploding from the atmospheric pressure. Determine if the spacecraft would disintegrate under the following conditions, and support your response with your work and reasoning. a. 46 miles b. 8.21 x 104 yards

Explanation / Answer

spacecrafts are usually designed with pressures inside well below atmospheric pressure. this is done so that the spacecrafts remain in pressure equilibrium with the outside pressure of their mission environment. So when a satellite drops below a critical orbit , the outside atmospheric pressure increases, increasing the chances of explsion of satellite under atmospheric pressure.

so for SOHO heliospheric observatory project, given altritude = 75 km

a. 46 miles = 44.0298 km

this oribuit is way more lower than the required orbit and hence the spacecraft will not be able to sustain at this altitude

b. 82100 yards = 75.07224 km

this orbit is closer to the intended orbit and is greater to it by some amount, and hence the decrease in atmospheric pressure corresponding with this nominal increase in the altitude of the satellite will not result in adverse conditions for the satellite and it would continue to operate normally

Related Questions

Navigate

• Browse (All)
• Browse 9
• Subjects

Integrity-first tutoring: explanations and feedback only — we do not complete graded work. Learn more.