Space Shuttle launch The mass of the Space Shuttle at launch is about 2.1 X 106 kg. Much of this mass is the fuel used to move the orbiter, which carries the astronauts and various items in the shuttle’s payload. The Space Shuttle generally travels from 3.2 X 105 m (200 mi) to 6.2 X 105 m (385 mi) above Earth’s surface. The shuttle’s two solid fuel boosters (the cylinders on the sides of the shuttle) provide 71.4% of the thrust during liftoff and the first stage of ascent before being released from the shuttle 132 s after launch at 48,000-m above sea level. The boosters continue moving up in free fall to an altitude of approximately 70,000 m and then fall toward the ocean to be recovered 230 km from the launch site. The shuttle’s five engines together provide 3.46 X 107 N of thrust during liftoff.
The boosters are released from the shuttle 132 s after launch. How do their vertical components of velocity compare to that of the shuttle at the instant of release?
(a) The boosters’ vertical component of velocity is zero.
(b) The boosters’ vertical component of velocity is about -9.8 m/s.
(c) The vertical component of velocity of the boosters and that of the Shuttle are the same.
(d) There is too little information to decide.
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