Hello all.
I am doing some research on the space shuttle for a class project, and I am having some problems with my data. I was hoping someone could show me the error of my ways.
I got all of my data from this site: http://spaceflight1.nasa.gov/shuttle/reference/basics
It says that 2 minutes (120s) into the launch the shuttle is moving at 4828km/h (1341.11m/s) and is at a height of 45km (45000m).
Using V = at I calculate the acceleration to be:
1341.11 / 120 = 11.18 m/s2 , or 1.14g
This seems pretty low to me. I thought 3g was the norm?
Using s = .5(a)(t^2) I calculate the distance to be:
(.5)(11.18)(14400) = 80496m
Which is a lot more than the 45km they claim. Even accounting for the curved path the shuttle takes on launch, I can't by that it travels 80km to reach a 45km height.
The numbers get even worse later on. The website says at 8.5 min (510s) it is at 28968km/h (8046.67m/s) at a height of 109.26km.
a = 8046.67 / 510 = 15.78 m/s2
s = (.5)(15.78)(510^2) = (.5)(15.78)(260100) = 2052189m = 2052km
Something just isn't adding up. Is there something I am missing in my calculations, or is there some variable I am missing? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
I am doing some research on the space shuttle for a class project, and I am having some problems with my data. I was hoping someone could show me the error of my ways.
I got all of my data from this site: http://spaceflight1.nasa.gov/shuttle/reference/basics
It says that 2 minutes (120s) into the launch the shuttle is moving at 4828km/h (1341.11m/s) and is at a height of 45km (45000m).
Using V = at I calculate the acceleration to be:
1341.11 / 120 = 11.18 m/s2 , or 1.14g
This seems pretty low to me. I thought 3g was the norm?
Using s = .5(a)(t^2) I calculate the distance to be:
(.5)(11.18)(14400) = 80496m
Which is a lot more than the 45km they claim. Even accounting for the curved path the shuttle takes on launch, I can't by that it travels 80km to reach a 45km height.
The numbers get even worse later on. The website says at 8.5 min (510s) it is at 28968km/h (8046.67m/s) at a height of 109.26km.
a = 8046.67 / 510 = 15.78 m/s2
s = (.5)(15.78)(510^2) = (.5)(15.78)(260100) = 2052189m = 2052km
Something just isn't adding up. Is there something I am missing in my calculations, or is there some variable I am missing? Any help would be greatly appreciated.