Question

On september 8, 2004, the genesis spacecraft crashed in the utah desert because its parachute did not open. the 210-kg capsule hit the ground at 311 km/h and penetrated the soil to a depth of 81.0 cm. assume that just before the crash and in the soil the capsule moves vertically.

Answer 1

311km/h = 86.389 m/s
Initial KE
= 0.5 * 210 * 86.389^2 J

work done by force of ground
= F * 0.81 J

0.5 * 210 * 86.389^2 = 0.81 F

F = 967433.58 N

capsule's weight W= 210 * 9.81 = 2060.1 N

F = 469.6 times capsule weight ---answer