Ian Curtis
11-04-2009, 00:47
So, my friend's father got me a NASA license plate about not understanding rocket science. Of course, I can't figure out what one of the equations is. The sign has laughably bad notation, but I think I've interpreted it correctly.
GxmxM/R=mx VESC2
Is the first equation. This is using the potential energy of a spacecraft/rocket to find escape velocity, right?
V2=Vp=r1 x v1 x sin 1/Rp
I can't figure out what this means. I assume at the end it's supposed to be sin(1/Rp), but that doesn't help me much. Can someone who knows what they're talking about fill me in? Thanks!
GxmxM/R=mx VESC2
Is the first equation. This is using the potential energy of a spacecraft/rocket to find escape velocity, right?
V2=Vp=r1 x v1 x sin 1/Rp
I can't figure out what this means. I assume at the end it's supposed to be sin(1/Rp), but that doesn't help me much. Can someone who knows what they're talking about fill me in? Thanks!