Space Flashcards
Why doesn’t a satellite fall to the earth?
Because it has a vertical velocity of 9.8ms-2 and has a horizontal velocity. The earth turns away from it when it falls therefore it never touches earth
Whats the advantage of using a telescope in space
Theres no weather so its easy to see
We see whole EM spectrum
What is a star
A body made of mostly hydrogen and helium that produces light
What is a planet
Something that orbits the sun and is big enough to have enough gravity to be a sphere and clear the area around its orbit
Whats a dwarf planet
The same as a planet but has not cleared the area around its orbit
Whats an exoplanet
A planet that exists outside our solar system
Name 3 benifits of satellites
GPS
weather forecasting
Communication
Scientific discovery
Space exploration
Security
What is the period of a satellite
The time it takes the satellite to orbit the planet
Define a geostationary satellite
Stays above the same point on the earths surface
Has a period of 24 hours
Orbits at an altitude of 36,000 km
Whats the challenges of space travel
The time it takes to travel in space
Maintaining supplies to keep astronauts alive
Moving a spacecraft in a zero friction environment
Whats the solutions to the challenges of space travel
To increase speed. Attach a ion drive which produces an unbalanced force
Catapult from planets to increase the velocity. This works by using the gravitational field strength to increase speed
Using solar cells to produce energy to keep astronauts alive
What will happen if the angle of re-entering earths atmosphere is too shallow
It will bounce off the atmosphere
What will happen if the angle of re-entering earths atmosphere is too steep
It will burn up due to too much air friction
What is a light year
Distance light travels in a year
What is meant by gravitational field strength
Force/weight per unit mass
