Unit 5 Practice questions Flashcards
Which is the most commonly used form of propulsion at this time?
Chemical
What would you consider not to be a serious concern/consideration for a crewed interstellar trip?
The lack of communication with Earth.
The UN’s Outer Space Treaty requires signatories to protect against forward contamination. Which of the following places in the Solar System are we particularly concern about contaminating?
the large moons of Jupiter and Saturn
The Van Allen Radiation Belts are located in
MEO
NASA’s main objective for human spaceflight over the next decade is to:
send astronauts to the Moon
For a liquid fuel propulsion system, what is typically needed?
Fuel and oxidizer tanks connecting to a combustion chamber.
What is the approximate efficiency of ion propulsion?
90%
Apollo astronauts left behind mirrors on the Moon’s surface. If you shone a bright-enough flashlight at one of these, about how long until you see a reflection after switching it on?
2 seconds
Of the various methods for propelling a spacecraft reviewed in this course, which does not involve ejecting material at high velocity to generate thrust?
solar sailing
Using current propulsion technology, it is estimated to take how long for a spacecraft such as Pioneer 10 to reach anther star?
Tens of thousands of years.
What best describes our current understanding of our nearest star, the Sun?
It is a sphere of plasma powered by a nuclear fusion core, experiencing complex (and often unpredictable) interactions with the plasma.
Astronauts aboard the International Space Station often indicate that they “enjoy being weightless”. In fact, it would be more accurate for them to state that they enjoy
being in free fall.
What best describes the mission of the Parker Solar Probe?
To pass near to the solar corona and collect data on a variety of solar phenomena and energy transport mechanisms.
Leaving Earth’s gravity well is a huge challenge. Which of the following current or proposed methods for generating delta-v is incompatible with launching objects from Earth’s surface?
ion propulsion
You are asked to place a satellite in orbit about the Earth with a period of 11 hours. What will be the satellites average distance (in kilometres) from the centre of the Earth?
24678
To achieve the goals of the Parker Solar Probe, what best describes the orbit(s) of the spacecraft throughout its mission?
Using Venus, the orbit of the spacecraft was modified on many occasions to bring it ever closer to the edge of the solar corona..
Which of the following would increase the delta-v of a rocket?
decreasing the dry (empty) mass of the rocket while holding the same amount of propellant
One of the most common isotopes used in RTGs to power spacecraft is
Plutonium 238.
What is not an advantage of LEO?
Atmospheric drag
What does not contribute to spacecraft sterilization?
Launch
The standard to which spacecraft sterilization is held to when exploring a potentially “life sensitive” location is
1 chance in 10,000 to cause contamination of the local environment.
Which of the following is not one of Newton’s famous laws?
energy is conserved
You are asked to place a satellite in Earth orbit with an average distance of 29974 km from the centre of the Earth. What will be its orbital period in hours?
14.4
The first scientists to suggest solar propulsion (“heavenly breeze”) could be viable was
Kepler
The Kessler Syndrome essential suggests that
collisions between satellites in LEO will dramatically increase the possibility of more collisions from fragmented debris.
Combustion is a(n)
Chemical process.
Many challenges exist to building a lunar settlement. Which of the following is NOT believed to be one of these?
lunar soils cannot be used for growing food
The first solar-powered spacecraft able to operate beyond the asteroid belt was named:
Juno
Which statement concerning interstellar travel is correct?
With our current propulsion systems, given the distance between stars, travelling interstellar distances simply takes to much time and energy.
Telecommunication satellites are most often located in which orbits?
GEO
The first solar sail that was demonstrated in space was by which country’s space agency?
Japan
You are asked to place a satellite in orbit about the Earth with a period of 11 hours. What will be the satellites average distance (in kilometres) from the centre of the Earth?
24678
Perhaps the largest advantage matter–anti–matter propulsion offers is the
100% efficiency of converting matter into energy.
Which of the following celestial bodies has the highest escape velocity?
Earth
Crewed missions to objects in our solar system face many challenges. What is not a challenge?
Finding astronauts willing to brave the space environment challenges.
