Thread: What does this equation mean?
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Unread 11-04-2009, 00:47
Ian Curtis Ian Curtis is offline
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What does this equation mean?
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!
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