Chapter 13

Question 1

Fly-by Mission

Answer 1

Never lands on the surface, good for taking pictures and making remote measurements (distance to surface, gravity maps, etc.)

Question 2

Orbiter

Answer 2

Goes into orbit around the target, same instruments as a fly-by, can also monitor long-term weather patterns.

Question 3

Land / Rover

Answer 3

Actually lands on the surface and moves around. Can carry complex scientific equipment, and interacts directly with the materials on the surface.

Question 4

Sample Return

Answer 4

Packages a sample of dirt (for example) and sends it back to Earth for analysis

Question 5

Tidal Heating

Answer 5

Gravitational forces from the planet can cause a moon to become deformed in such a way that it heats up the interior of the moon. Requires the moon to have an elliptical orbit.

Question 6

Synchronous Rotation

Answer 6

A special type of orbit where the orbiting body orbits once every time it spins on its axis once. That means that it always shows the same side / face to the object it’s orbiting (the moon does this to the Earth).

Question 7

Tidal Friction

Answer 7

Gravitation forces cause tides to be raised on the Earth (for example). As the tides change, they exhibit a force on the Earth that slows its rotation, causing it to lose angular momentum.

Question 8

Orbital Resonances

Answer 8

Jupiter, for example, has several moons that exhibit orbital resonances; every time one of the moons orbits Jupiter once, the other moons orbit some integer number of times. That means that both moons end up on the same side of Jupiter fairly regularly, and are able to gravitationally “tug” on one another.