shantu1992 said:
1. identify why there exists an ''entry corridor'' for the space shuttle returning to earth
2. why do astronauts feel ''weightless'' in space? How can tehy prove they do have weight?
thanks heapps
1) this is 5.2-7.2 degrees to the horizontal - any steeper and the astronauts will feel to much g-force and shuttle will burn up, while too shallow and the spaceship will 'bounce off' the atmosphere, back into space
2) because
they are falling towards the earth at the same rate as their surroundings (contrary to popular beliefe there is still quite a high value for g, acceleration due to grqavity, which can be worked out by g= (GM)/(r^2), and u'll fin its like 4-7m/s^2 in space (dependin on altitude of orbit) - this is misunderstood by many students, and thats why u put 'weightless' in inverted commas, becaus eit is only APPARENT WEIGHTLESSNESS, cause they still have a weight (probs 50-80% of their weight on surface of earth)
any good textbook will have this info
