You are in the early stages of an internship at NASA. Your supervisor has asked you to analyze emergency procedures for extravehicular activity (EVA), when the astronauts leave the International Space Station (ISS) to do repairs to its exterior or perform other tasks. In particular, the scenario you are studying is a failure of the manned-maneuvering unit (MMU), which is a nitrogen-propelled backpack that attaches to the astronaut's primary life support system (PLSS). In this scenario, the astronaut is floating directly away from the ISS and cannot use the failed MMU to get back. Therefore, the emergency plan is to take off the MMU and throw it in a direction directly away from the ISS, an action that will hopefully cause the astronaut to reverse direction and float back to the station. You have the following mass data provided to you: astronaut: 74.1 kg, spacesuit: 46.8 kg, MMU: 115 kg, PLSS: 145 kg. Based on tests performed by astronauts floating "weightless" inside the ISS, the most kinetic energy they can impart to an object by throwing it while floating is about 100 J, measured in the rest frame of the ISS. Your supervisor asks you to determine an upper limit of the speed with which an astronaut can drift away from the ISS and rescue himself by throwing his failed MMU. (Give your answer in m/s.)
You are in the early stages of an internship at NASA. Your supervisor has asked you to analyze emergency procedures for extravehicular activity (EVA), when the astronauts leave the International Space Station (ISS) to do repairs to its exterior or perform other tasks. In particular, the scenario you are studying is a failure of the manned-maneuvering unit (MMU), which is a nitrogen-propelled backpack that attaches to the astronaut's primary life support system (PLSS). In this scenario, the astronaut is floating directly away from the ISS and cannot use the failed MMU to get back. Therefore, the emergency plan is to take off the MMU and throw it in a direction directly away from the ISS, an action that will hopefully cause the astronaut to reverse direction and float back to the station. You have the following mass data provided to you: astronaut: 74.1 kg, spacesuit: 46.8 kg, MMU: 115 kg, PLSS: 145 kg. Based on tests performed by astronauts floating "weightless" inside the ISS, the most kinetic energy they can impart to an object by throwing it while floating is about 100 J, measured in the rest frame of the ISS. Your supervisor asks you to determine an upper limit of the speed with which an astronaut can drift away from the ISS and rescue himself by throwing his failed MMU. (Give your answer in m/s.)
College Physics
11th Edition
ISBN:9781305952300
Author:Raymond A. Serway, Chris Vuille
Publisher:Raymond A. Serway, Chris Vuille
Chapter10: Thermal Physics
Section: Chapter Questions
Problem 57AP
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Transcribed Image Text:You are in the early stages of an internship at NASA. Your supervisor has asked you to analyze emergency procedures for
extravehicular activity (EVA), when the astronauts leave the International Space Station (ISS) to do repairs to its exterior or
perform other tasks. In particular, the scenario you are studying is a failure of the manned-maneuvering unit (MMU), which
is a nitrogen-propelled backpack that attaches to the astronaut's primary life support system (PLSS). In this scenario, the
astronaut is floating directly away from the ISS and cannot use the failed MMU to get back. Therefore, the emergency plan
is to take off the MMU and throw it in a direction directly away from the ISS, an action that will hopefully cause the
astronaut to reverse direction and float back to the station.
You have the following mass data provided to you: astronaut: 74.1 kg, spacesuit: 46.8 kg, MMU: 115 kg, PLSS: 145 kg.
Based on tests performed by astronauts floating "weightless" inside the ISS, the most kinetic energy they can impart to an
object by throwing it while floating is about 100 J, measured in the rest frame of the ISS. Your supervisor asks you to
determine an upper limit of the speed with which an astronaut can drift away from the ISS and rescue himself by throwing
his failed MMU. (Give your answer in m/s.)
m/s
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