Question

Before they were decommissioned, the NASA space shuttles required two solid rocket boosters (SRBs) to launch the shuttle from Earth’s surface. Both SRBs produced 1.7 x10^7 N at liftoff. The combined mass of a shuttle and rocket boosters was about 1.5 x 10^ 6 kga) Calculate the net acceleration of a space shuttle and rockets at the time of liftoff. (b) Calculate the speed of the shuttle and rockets after 10.0 s.

Answer 1

Given:

The force on the booster is

`F=\text{ 1.7}*10^7\text{ N}`

The mass is

`m=\text{ 1.5}*10^6\text{ kg}`

Required:

(a) The net acceleration

(b) Speed of the shuttle and rockets after time t = 10 s

Step-by-step explanation:

(a) The net acceleration can be calculated as

`\begin{gathered} a=(F)/(m) \\ =(1.7*10^7)/(1.5*10^6) \\ =11.33\text{ m/s}^2 \end{gathered}`

(b)

The initial speed of the rocket and shuttle will be zero.

The speed of the rocket and shuttle after time t = 10 s will be

`\begin{gathered} v=0\text{ m/s + 11.33}*10 \\ =\text{ 113.3 m/s} \end{gathered}`

Final Answer:

(a) The net acceleration is 11.33 m/s^2.

(b) The speed of the rocket and shuttle is 113.3 m/s