Question

8 points

15. A spaceship is moving in a straight line on its way to a planet. The pilot
sees that the planet is ahead and to the left. She claims that she does not
need to use the engines to push the ship toward the planet. Explain why
the pilot is correct or incorrect.

Answer 1

The pilot is correct because of gravity

Answer 2

The pilot might be correct (I think), because, if the gravity of the planet is strong, then the planet’s gravity will pull the spaceship into its orbit, so the engines don’t need to be on for the ship to get pushed toward the planet.