In: Physics
After 500 years of drifting in space and a brief visit on board the flagship Draconia, Buck Rogers headed to the Federal Directorate of Earth in his spacecraft. His descent consisted of the following stages. Assume that each stage followed immediately after the preceding stage and that the acceleration during each stage was constant. Stage A: Friction with the atmosphere reduced the speed from 19,500 km/h to 1700 km/h in 4.0 min. Stage B: A parachute then opened to slow it down to 340 km/h in 100 s. Stage C: Retro rockets then fired to reduce its speed to zero over a distance of 75 m. (a) Calculate the spacecraft’s acceleration (m/s2 ) during each stage. (b) What total distance (km) did the spacecraft travel in each stage