A descent vehicle landing on Mars has vertical velocity toward the surface of Mars of 5.5 m/s. At the same time, it has a horizontal velocity of 3.5 m/s.

Question

1)At what speed does the vehicle move along its descent path?

2)At what angle with the vertical is this path?

3)If the vehicle is 230 m above the surface,how long until it reaches the surface?

Answer 1

(1)

 

v = √(v_x² + v_y²) = √[(3.5)² + (-5.5)²] m/s ≅ 6.52 m/s

 

(2)

 

The angle measured clockwise from the upward vertical is

 

θ = 180° - tan^-1(3.5/5.5) ≅ 180° - 32.5º = 147.5º

 

(3)

 

t = y / |v_y| = 230/5.5 s ≅ 41.8 s